Avalanche forecast

Banff Yoho Kootenay

Nov 24 – 25, 2018Parks Canada
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Avalanche danger

Sun
Mon
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
1 · Low
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

While the windslabs are getting older, they form a reactive slab over the deep persistent layer.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely - Possible
    Size
    1–2
    While these slabs are getting fairly old, they remain significant as they have contributed to a reactive slab above the October 26 crust.  A few cm of snow will now hide these slabs making them a bit harder to detect and avoid.

  • Deep Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1.5–2.5
    We were seeing occasional skiier triggered , and explosive controlled avalanches on the Oct 26 crust at local ski areas. This problem seems to be most reactive in areas where the wind has created more of a slab on top of it.

Avalanche Summary

Lake Louise reported a sz 2 slab failing on the October 26 layer on the N aspect of Whitehorn. While efforts yesterday had failed to initiate an avalanche higher in the start zone, a 1 kg charge placed lower did the trick today with the thought that winds strong winds had created the slab lower in the start zone instead of the immediate lee.

Confidence

Due to the number of field observations

Weather Forecast

Expect the light winds to shift to the North tonight as arctic air pushes south into the region Friday evening.  This will squeeze a few more flakes of snow out of the clouds and drop temperatures a few 4 or 5 degrees for a high of around -8C at 2000m Saturday.

Snowpack Summary

5cm of new snow now buries surface hoar, thin suncrusts, and previous wind effect. Aging windslabs sit over a faceted midpack above the october 26  facet and crust interface generally found 10 to 30 cm above the ground.

Regions covered