Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Nov 5th, 2019–Nov 6th, 2019

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

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, human triggered possible.

Below Treeline

Below Threshold.

Regions

Little Yoho.

New snow and strong winds have created areas of wind slab, avoid steep gullies or convex rolls.

It's still early season, ski and ride with care as rocks, stumps and open creeks would be an easy way to end the season.

Weather Forecast

A cold front is pushing into region and will drop temps as low as -20 and another 5cm of snow by wednesday morning. Wednesday will see a slight clearing trend, no new snow, moderate Westerly winds with a daytime high of -5. Another storm system approaches on Thursday evening and is forecasted to bring 10cm of snow, strong winds and rising temps.

Snowpack Summary

10-20cm of new snow in the past three days with gusty alpine winds up to 85km/hr. Treeline snow depths range from 40-60 cm with up to 100 cm in the lee features. In general the snowpack is still thin, weak and highly variable in depth. An October crust has been providing support to help ski travel. Limited snow below treeline.

Avalanche Summary

Received a third hand report of a full burial in the Observation Peak area on Sunday afternoon. Subjects hand was above the surface and the other group members quickly dug them out, no injuries. A couple sz 1.5 dry loose avalanches were observed on Monday in steep alpine gullies along with a small natural wind slab observed in alpine terrain.

Confidence

Due to the number and quality of field observations

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.

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.