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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Nov 12th, 2020–Nov 13th, 2020

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

Regions

Banff Yoho Kootenay.

Strong winds at ridge tops today have drifted the recent new snow into soft slabs that can be easily triggered. These are not large slabs, but they are sensitive to triggering and will be a problem for anyone in or above a terrain trap.

Weather Forecast

Expect the moderate to strong alpine winds to continue until late in the day on Friday, with 5-10 cm of snow expected on Friday and temperatures remaining cool, near -10. This weather patterns looks set to persist through the weekend.

Snowpack Summary

Moderate to strong SW winds from have drifted the surface snow into soft, small but easily triggered windslabs in alpine areas. These slabs sit on the Nov. 5th rain crust which exists up to 2400m north of Lake Louise and higher in the Sunshine area. This crust is 5-10 cm thick and ~20 cm above the ground.  At treeline the snowpack is 30-60 cm deep

Avalanche Summary

Thin size 1 windslabs reported by the avalanche control teams at both Sunshine and Lake Louise today. These have been relatively small avalanches but have run surprisingly far because they are on such a firm crust.

Confidence

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.