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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 14th, 2014–Apr 15th, 2014

Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely.
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.

Today was an amazing day in the mountains! We are rating the danger low at all elevations, but read here to see how we treat danger ratings in the spring. Afternoons are warming up slightly, but not much. We are a few weeks behind a typical spring.

Weather Forecast

The northwesterly flow that has been keeping the temperatures cool will continue through the middle of this week, and both Tues and Wed will have cloud cover and light/moderate snow. Freezing levels will hit 1600m with light flurries beginning mid-day on Tuesday and building into Wednesday with a possibility of 10cm by the time it's over.

Snowpack Summary

A supportive melt-freeze crust exists on all aspects to 2300m, and higher on south and west aspects. The snowpack is well settled with no surface instabilities as long as the temperature remains cool. Cornices are a concern on most days this year, particularly from noon onward as they get baked by the sun.

Avalanche Summary

Small loose snow point release avalanche were observed on south facing terrain in the afternoon.

Confidence

Problems

Deep Persistent Slabs

Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.

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.

Cornices

Cornice Fall is the release of an overhanging mass of snow that forms as the wind moves snow over a sharp terrain feature, such as a ridge, and deposits snow on the downwind (leeward) side. Cornices range in size from small wind drifts of soft snow to large overhangs of hard snow that are 30 feet (10 meters) or taller. They can break off the terrain suddenly and pull back onto the ridge top and catch people by surprise even on the flat ground above the slope. Even small cornices can have enough mass to be destructive and deadly. Cornice Fall can entrain loose surface snow or trigger slab avalanches.