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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 15th, 2016–Mar 16th, 2016

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

Regions

Little Yoho.

Recent storm snow has refreshed the ski quality, but made for some touchy conditions in areas where it overlies suncrusts from February's warm temperatures.

Weather Forecast

A similar weather pattern for the next few days - on Wednesday expect overcast skies with light snow through the day, probably not accumulating more than 3-5cm. Temperatures will remain cool from -2 to -10 and relatively light winds. A gradual clearing trend into Friday. Excellent weather for quality tree skiing!

Snowpack Summary

40 - 60cm of recent, dry storm snow overlies a well settled mid and lower pack. This new snow has formed slabs that overlie several suncrusts on S and W aspects and may bond poorly in some areas. No significant shears found in the mid and lower pack, however thin snowpack areas are still suspect.

Avalanche Summary

A round of avalanche control on Mt Bosworth and Field in Yoho and Mt Whymper and the Simpson paths in Kootenay today produced numerous avalanches up to size 3. Many of these were running on sun crusts or melt freeze crusts and stepping down to the basal facets in thinner areas. Cornices were large and easy to trigger.

Confidence

Due to the number 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.

Persistent Slabs

Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.