Avalanche forecast

Banff Yoho Kootenay

Mar 22 – 23, 2013Parks Canada
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Avalanche danger

Sun
Mon
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

Nice weather this weekend will tempt people to step out into bigger terrain.  Avoid steep, thin snowpack areas, especially East of the divide where triggering of large avalanches is possible.  SH

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–3
    New windslabs have formed on lee aspects, much thicker West of the divide where more new snow has fallen. Up to 40cm was reported over the last few days in Yoho, followed by a wind event on the 21st. Crown depths of 60cm reported there, 

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible - Likely
    Size
    1–3
    Watch out for thin areas especially East of the divide where it is possible to trigger or remote trigger deep slabs on basal facets or crusts.  Be conservative with terrain choices in bigger terrain.

Weather Forecast

Light Northerly flow with weak convective afternoon buildup Saturday.  No new snow in the forecast and minimal solar effect with freezing levels up to 1600m.

Snowpack Summary

W of Divide: Generally well settled snowpack in deeper areas. Previous storm slabs buried by 20-40cm at TL and above.  Some whumpfing today at ridgetop in thinner areas on facets above Vermillion crossing. E of Divide:harder wind slabs over a variety of surfaces from sun crust, facets, and depth hoar. Sensitive to human triggering in thin areas.

Avalanche Summary

Deep persistent slab avalanches have been occurring on basal facets this week. One such avalanche was remote triggered in the Observation Peak area and was up to 175cm deep. Click here for another avalanche on Redoubt Mountain (E of divide) from March 19th.  Obs. from Yoho today saw natural slabs up to 2.5 within the recent storm snow in the Alp.

Confidence

Due to the number of field observations on Friday

Regions covered