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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 14th, 2021–Feb 15th, 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, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Banff Yoho Kootenay.

Despite the cold temperatures avalanches continue to occur daily. As temperatures slowly increase there is some potential for the frequency of this activity to increase as well.

Weather Forecast

Winds have returned to the SW and have backed off to generally light where they should remain Monday. Alpine temps reached -20C today but are expected to peak at -15C Monday while valley bottom temps may break -10C with clear skies to start the day. Increasing cloud late Monday may lead to trace amounts of snow overnight and cooling in the alpine.

Snowpack Summary

Winds have created small slabs in lee areas of the alpine, and wind effect into open areas at treeline. The surface snow is facetting and beginning to sluff more easily in steep terrain. A facet layer from Jan 27th is present at treeline and in the alpine down 30-40cm. On steep south this layer may consist of a thin sun crust as well.

Avalanche Summary

Several cornice failures have been observed over the past few days including one on Fatigue Mountain today that triggered a size 3 on the ground reminding us that there is still a deep layer. Forecasters ski cut a size 2 in the Simpson area at 2100 m on the persistent layer saturday. SSV reports working with small stubborn windslabs in the alpine.

Confidence

Due to the number of field observations

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.

Persistent Slabs

Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.

Loose Dry

Loose Dry avalanches are the release of dry unconsolidated snow and typically occur within layers of soft snow near the surface of the snowpack. These avalanches start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-dry avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs.