Avalanche forecast

Banff Yoho Kootenay

Feb 13 – 14, 2014Parks Canada
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Archived · expired 13 years ago

Avalanche danger

Thu
Fri
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
2 · Moderate
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Highlights

Small natural cycle occurring in the alpine.  Very touchy wind and storm slab condition exists.  It's definitely time to pick more conservative lines or routes.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Very Likely - Certain
    Size
    1–2
    The 10-20 cm of new snow has created touchy windslabs up to 30 cm thick with impressive propagations for their small size.

  • Storm Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    1–2
    The new snow now has enough cohesion in some locations to act as a soft slab on steeper features not affected by the wind.

  • Deep Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely - Possible
    Size
    1–2
    This dormant layer may start to wake up over the next few days with continued snow and wind loading, we are monitoring it closely. It is a weak basal facet layer that is a problem on the East side of the Divide (Lake Louise area).

Weather Forecast

Another 5 cm forecasted for Thursday and 5 for Friday with moderate to strong SW winds is forecasted for the next few days.

Snowpack Summary

A touchy 15-30 cm soft wind/storm slab is not bonding well to underlying surfaces (surface hoar, facets, and suncrust) formed from the past three weeks of cold, dry weather. With additional snow forecast over the next few days, expect the soft slabs to increase in depth and size.

Avalanche Summary

A natural cycle was occurring in the alpine, but visibility was poor. Across the region, several soft touchy windslabs 15-30 cm deep (size 1.5) have been ski cut on all aspects above treeline. Propagations were generally 10-40 m. A general observation was small avalanches were running far an fast, up to 700 m in one case in KNP.

Confidence

Due to the quality of field observations

Regions covered