Dashboard Regions Weather Stations Radar Alerts Glossary
Contact About
Log In

Register for an account and never miss a forecast again!

Register

Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 5th, 2022–Apr 6th, 2022

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

Regions

Banff Yoho Kootenay.

Recent new snow amounts are highly variable which contributes to a fair amount of uncertainty with the hazard rating. Expect to see a wide variety of surface conditions and be ready to adjust your expectations  based on what you see in the terrain.

Weather Forecast

A ridge of high pressure will build Wednesday with weakening ridge top winds through the day and mostly sunny skies by the afternoon. Freezing levels from 1600-1800m expected on Wednesday, falling to valley bottom Wednesday night. Thursday will be mostly sunny with rising freezing levels and SW winds increasing to strong by Friday AM. 

Snowpack Summary

10-15cm of recent storm snow sits on a crust that can be found on all aspects up to ~2300m and higher on solar aspects. Variable snow depths, some high alpine areas on the Divide report up to 30cm dry surface snow. Consistent winds have formed fresh windslabs in lee terrain. Some loose wet avalanches are expected in the afternoon below treeline.

Avalanche Summary

Numerous avalanches were reported on Sunday out of high alpine terrain on the Divide: Cornice on Kindergarten Couloir, avalanche on the Stanley Headwall, sluffs with a partial burial on the Bell Couloir, sluffs on Mt. Victoria. On Tuesday the local ski hills reported explosive triggered wind slab avalanches up to size 1.5 out of lee alpine terrain.

Confidence

Freezing levels are uncertain

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.

Loose Wet

Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.