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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Nov 19th, 2019–Nov 20th, 2019

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

Regions

Little Yoho.

With a shallow early season snowpack even deep persistent weak layers lurk not far under foot. Be aware that while traveling in the back country you can easily affect all the layers of the snowpack.

Weather Forecast

A clearing trend is forecasted for the remainder of the week. Wednesday will bring slightly cooler temps before a warming trend returns for the end of the week. Wind values are expected to remain relatively light.

Snowpack Summary

15 to 40cm of winds slab is present in the alpine. This wind slab problem overlays several faceted layers in the mid pack. Well developed weak facets near the ground and the Oct crust, have resulted in easy test results in some areas. Treeline snow depths range from 50-80 cm, with up to 110 cm in wind loaded alpine areas.

Avalanche Summary

Lake Louise ski resort continues to report explosive control result to size 2. These avalanches were initiated from wind slab near ridge crest, stepping down to the weak basel layers as they gained mass.

Confidence

Problems

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.

Deep Persistent Slabs

Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.