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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 1st, 2024–Apr 2nd, 2024

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

Regions

Banff Yoho Kootenay, Little Yoho, Banff, East Side 93N, Kootenay, Lake Louise, LLSA, Sunshine, West Side 93N, Field.

Temperatures are on the rise.

A weak freeze is possible overnight Monday.

Increased winds Tuesday will encourage slab development.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Another slab was remote triggered from 50m today in the Purple Bowl at Lake Louise. The slab was reprorted to be 50cm deep and 75m wide. This would be a northwest aspect at around 2500m and would be skier's right of a similar event triggered on the February 3rd layer just over a week ago.

Otherwise a few loose wet events out of steep rocky terrain.

Snowpack Summary

Up to 35 cm of snow over old sun crusts on solar aspects, with new solar crusts forming. On polar aspects, this snow sits over a layer of stellars/spotty surface hoar crystals and is worth monitoring.

Our main concern is shallow snowpack areas on northerly alpine aspects where no crusts are found in the upper snowpack and the midpack is thinner/weaker. Triggering the Feb 3 facet/crust layer and basal depth hoar remains possible.

Deeper snowpack areas have few concerns.

Weather Summary

Upper level temperatures will increase through the night Monday as a warm system approaches. Some clouds develop with moderate westerly winds.

Tuesday temperatures will spike to around 5C at treeline and winds increase to strong SW. A cold front sweeps south bringing rain that will turn to snow overnight.

Wendnesday: Winds will fade as temperatures drop.

Click here for more weather info.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Back off slopes as the surface becomes moist or wet with rising temperatures.
  • Avoid thin areas like rock outcroppings where you're most likely to trigger avalanches failing on deep weak layers.
  • Use caution on large alpine slopes, especially around thin areas that may propagate to deeper instabilities.

Problems

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.

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.