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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 12th, 2016–Apr 13th, 2016

Alpine
Below Threshold.
Treeline
Below Threshold.
Below Treeline
Below Threshold.
Alpine
Below Threshold.
Treeline
Below Threshold.
Below Treeline
Below Threshold.
Alpine
Below Threshold.
Treeline
Below Threshold.
Below Treeline
Below Threshold.

Regions

Banff Yoho Kootenay.

Clearing toward the end of Wednesday may increase the likelihood of loose and wet avalanches and deep persistent slabs.

Weather Forecast

Clearing skies toward the end of the day and a slightly lower freezing level are expected on Wednesday.

Snowpack Summary

A weak freeze overnight created supportive crusts that were breaking down by the late morning. Below the crust isothermal snow was found up to treeline on all aspects, and in thin alpine areas on S aspects. N aspects in the high alpine are more winter like. In many places the upper snowpack sits on a weaker deep persistent layer of rounding facets.

Avalanche Summary

No avalanches observed or reported today.Explosive control on Saturday during the heat of the afternoon was able to produce several 2.5-3 loose wet avalanches out of steep treeline terrain in the Kootenay region.

Confidence

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.

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.