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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 20th, 2025–Feb 21st, 2025

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

Regions

Little Yoho.

Changes to the weather pattern are underway, with warming and trace amounts of new snow for Friday. Over the weekend, expect avalanche danger to rise as a result of up to 40cm of new snow along with wind and warmer temps

An avalanche on Monday near Golden reminds us that even under Moderate/Low danger, small windslabs have consequences

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

A fatal avalanche that occurred south of Golden on Monday. A small windslab on a north aspect at 2300 m carried one person a long way (1000 m) down a steep, confined gully with many terrain obstacles.

No new avalanches were reported or observed in the Little Yoho region region Thursday.

Snowpack Summary

Previous wide spread wind effect, surface faceting, isolated sun crust and spotty surface hoar growth up to 7mm has been observed on the snow surface. Beneath that, about 25cm of settled snow sits over the Jan 30 weak layer, with ageing wind slabs lingering in isolated areas. Specific wind-exposed terrain may also feature sastrugi. The mid and lower snowpack remains well-settled, with tree-line snow depths ranging from 120cm to 180cm.

Weather Summary

Thursday night: Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries. Alpine temperature: Low -8 °C. Ridge wind southwest: 15-35 km/h.

Friday: Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries. Alpine temperature: High -6 °C. Ridge wind southwest: 15 km/h gusting to 50 km/h.

Saturday and Sunday: Periods of snow. Accumulation: 30 cm. Alpine temperature: Low -8 °C, High -5 °C. Ridge wind southwest: 20 km/h gusting to 70 km/h.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Be careful as you transition into wind-affected terrain.
  • Loose avalanches may start small, but they can grow and push you into dangerous terrain.
  • Rocks will heat up with daytime warming and may become trigger points for loose wet avalanches.

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.