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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 10th, 2016–Dec 11th, 2016

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

Little Yoho.

The November 12 crust layer is losing strength, it should be carefully evaluated and consequences should be carefully considered before entering committing, or more aggressive terrain.

Weather Forecast

A short break from the extreme cold has brought a bit of precip and cloudy skies to southern areas over the weekend as the westerly flow won out for a while. Look for the north winds to return Monday dropping us even further into the deep freeze than we saw last week.

Snowpack Summary

Small wind slabs found in isolated alpine areas. 30-80 cm of settled snow over the November 12 crust. Stability tests on this crust are mixed, ranging from no results to easy results. This crust is more reactive in the Lake Louise area on southerly aspects above treeline. Rapid faceting and weakening of the snowpack with the cold temperatures.

Avalanche Summary

No observations today from the Little Yoho Region. In BNP: A few small loose dry avalanches observed in steep terrain as the surface snow facets and weakens. A few recent natural and skier triggered slab avalanches have been observed on southerly aspects in the alpine running on the November 12 crust.

Confidence

Due to the number of field observations

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 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.