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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 16th, 2026–Feb 17th, 2026

Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Regions

Little Yoho, Kootenay.

Snow, cold and light wind coming our way. An upslope storm will deposit 10-25 cm of snow between Monday night and Wednesday morning, which will change things. Possibly some windslabs and maybe the persistent slab will wake up a bit more with additional slab on top? Hard to say, but change is underway, so monitor conditions carefully.

Confidence

Avalanche Summary

Skier triggering of the Persistent Slab problem continues within a narrow elevation band in Yoho.

Snowpack Summary

By Tuesday, 20-40 cm of cold, dry snow will sit at the top of the snowpack and be available for wind loading. Fortunately, winds look light through the storm, but expect sensitive windslabs in leeward terrain on Tuesday. The Jan 24 layer (surface hoar/crust) is down 20-40 cm at treeline and may become more active with this additional new snow – watch carefully for this, as this layer has been reactive in isolated pockets between 1600 and 1900 m.

Weather Summary

A significant change in the weather is happening overnight on Monday and Tuesday.

An arctic cold front descends from the NE and collides with moist Pacific air, a combination that can create a lot of snow. Expect 10-20 cm by Wed morning, cooling temperatures down to -17 by Wed morning, and wind switching to NE but looking mostly light. Expect more snow on the east side of the range.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind-affected terrain.
  • Approach steep and open slopes at and below treeline cautiously, as buried surface hoar may exist.

Problems

Loose Dry

Loose Dry avalanches are the release of dry unconsolidated snow and typically occur within layers of soft snow near the surface of the snowpack. These avalanches start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-dry avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs.

Wind Slabs

Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.

Persistent Slabs

Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.