Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 15th, 2013–Apr 16th, 2013

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.

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Banff Yoho Kootenay.

Weather Forecast

A ridge of high pressure builds in from the west and should be firmly established over the area on Wednesday. On Tuesday the forecast calls for mixed sun and cloud with freezing levels around 1200 m. A warming trend is forecast for the the end of the weak with freezing levels rising to 2000 m by Friday.

Snowpack Summary

Between 10 and 40 cm of storm snow has fallen in the alpine over the last five days. The storm snow is bonding well to crusts on solar aspects and to faceted snow on northerly aspects. Thin wind slabs can be expected in the high alpine on a variety of aspects. Temperatures stayed cool all day on Monday.

Avalanche Summary

No avalanches have been observed or reported in the past 48 hours.

Confidence

Due to the number and quality 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.