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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 15th, 2016–Jan 16th, 2016

Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Little Yoho.

Recent and expected snow flurries are slowly adding up and giving the west winds something to move around in the alpine.

Weather Forecast

Some clearing Friday night should allow a drop in alpine temperatures to -20C values. A warm front is expected to arrive late in the day Saturday bringing a return warmer temperatures and some light snow through the weekend with light to moderate winds out of the SW.

Snowpack Summary

There is now10-15 cm over the Jan 6 combination of surface hoar, facets and sun crust depending on aspect and elevation. Small wind slabs should be expected along high alpine ridgecrests resulting mainly from West winds. The snowpack is facetting. Upper layers are very weak however the snowpack remains supportive in deeper areas (> 1m snowpack)

Avalanche Summary

Loose dry events to size 1.5 in steep terrain require only a very light trigger as the weak facetted surface layers sluff. These can run a surprising distance. There have been a few small windslabs reported in recent days out of alpine ridgecrests. Expect even the smallest windslab to push a significant sluff if it hits a steep slope below it.

Confidence

Problems

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.

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.