Wind Slabs
N
NE
E
SE
S
SW
W
NW
- Alpine
- Treeline
- Below treeline
- Likelihood
- Possible - Likely
- Size
- 1–2
With increased winds and some snow in the forecast, watch for wind slab formation in the lees of ridge crests over the next 24 hours.
Avalanche forecast
View on mapBanff Yoho Kootenay
Apr 3 – 4, 2014Parks Canada
Archived · expired 12 years ago
Avalanche danger
Sat
Sun
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
Highlights
Excellent ski quality on N aspects. Avoid thin snowpack areas where the basal layers can be triggered. SH
Avalanche problems
Deep Persistent Slabs
NNEESESSWWNW- Alpine
- Treeline
- Below treeline
- Likelihood
- Unlikely - Possible
- Size
- 2–3
We have seen isolated activity on depth hoar and facets located near the base of the snowpack in thin areas mainly E of the divide. The main problem right now is triggering the occasional large avalanche that fails on the ground.
Weather Forecast
The sun should not be a large factor over the next couple days. Up to 10cm is expected thursday night through Friday with temperatures staying fairly cool in the alpine (-10C at 3000m) and highs of around 0C at valley bottom. Westerly winds will pick up tonight into Friday gusting as strong as 75 km/h in alpine areas.
Snowpack Summary
Western areas such as Emerald and Field have a deep and stable snowpack. Contrast this with the Lake Louise and Sunshine areas, where a weaker snowpack is showing signs that the ground level layer of facets is waking up again - slowly. This layer has been dormant since February. A crust exists on all but N aspects.
Avalanche Summary
Lake Louise avalanche safety was reporting large whumpfs in shallow alpine areas today. A profile on one of these slopes found very easy compression results on the basal depth hoar. Yesterday a size 2.5 failed on the ground from an explosive at the Lake Louise ski area, and a cornice failure on Mt. Rundle triggered an avalanche in the afternoon.