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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 9th, 2021–Feb 10th, 2021

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

Banff Yoho Kootenay.

Extreme cold continues. Leave extra margin for daylight and distance from vehicle. Minor incidents will be amplified exponentially in the current conditions.

Weather Forecast

Severe cold continues to dominate the forecast region, and its going to get colder, bottoming out on Thurs. Very chilly. The good news is, the wind will remain at the moderate level from the West. Cloud cover on Weds then clearing again on Thurs/Fri.

Snowpack Summary

Previous winds from all directions have redistributed the recent 30-60cm of low density storm snow into wind slab in the alpine and exposed areas at tree line. In sheltered areas the recent storm snow remains loose powder. Buried sun crust and facets on steep south aspects. Treeline snow depths range from 150-220cm.

Avalanche Summary

Avalanche control produced thin slabs (~25cm deep) up to size 2 on Mt. Whymper this afternoon. Additionally, an explosive controlled size 3 cornice was triggered, which was mostly cornice chunks entraining surface snow. Also of note, last week there were three avalanches up to size 1.5 reported on south aspects below treeline.

Confidence

Due to the number of field observations on Tuesday

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.