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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 23rd, 2015–Jan 24th, 2015

Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Regions

Little Yoho.

We are in a period of rising avalanche hazard. As the new snow arrives with strong winds and warming temperatures, minimize your exposure to cornices or large start zones, and expect sluffing out of steep terrain.

Weather Forecast

Snow has started to fall in the Western areas of the region. We expect 10-15cm overnight. The next several days will have light to moderate precipitation, strong to extreme West winds, and warming temperatures with freezing levels hovering around the 2000m level from late Saturday afternoon to Monday.

Snowpack Summary

Wind slabs exist in alpine areas. The snowpack in the Emerald Lake and Mt Field area is about 130cm deep, with the main weakness being the Dec 18 surface hoar down 50cm. This layer continues to produce moderate to hard results, but the layer is not found in all areas. We suspect some bonding is occurring with this layer, but remain careful.

Avalanche Summary

No natural avalanches observed in the last 48hrs. Forecasters on Mt. Field on Jan 21st experienced large whumpfs in an open area at 1850m indicating the deeper layers may still be reactive to human triggering in some areas.

Confidence

Freezing levels are uncertain on Sunday

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.

Persistent Slabs

Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.