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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 18th, 2016–Jan 19th, 2016

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

Regions

Little Yoho.

We are in the textbook "straw that broke the camel's back" situation as the new snow, wind and facets are all adding up. Ice climbers - the gullies in Field are starting to fill up with loose snow - not much change is needed here to see some action.

Weather Forecast

Continued light snowfall for the next 24 hours, with another 2-4 cm expected and temperatures ranging from -5 to -15. Moderate (40+ km/hr) westerly winds at higher elevations.

Snowpack Summary

15-20cm of recent storm snow from the past week has been blown into windslabs in high alpine areas; expect isolated soft slabs up to 40cm deep in loaded areas. Meanwhile, the overall snowpack continues to gradually become weaker from the facetting process, and in some areas the upper snowpack is comprised entirely of facets with no cohesion.

Avalanche Summary

Observed a size 2 natural avalanche that ran 800 meters on Mt. Fairview above Lake Louise today. Additionally, a party of skiers in the Lake Louise backcountry triggered a loose dry avalanche that was large enough the bury their equipment and necessitate a backcountry evacuation since they lost their gear.

Confidence

Problems

Loose Dry

Loose Dry avalanches are the release of dry unconsolidated snow and typically occur within layers of soft snow near the surface of the snowpack. These avalanches start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-dry avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs.

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.