Dashboard Regions Weather Stations Radar Alerts Glossary
Contact About
Log In

Register for an account and never miss a forecast again!

Register

Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 16th, 2025–Apr 17th, 2025

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

Regions

Banff Yoho Kootenay, Banff, East Side 93N, Kootenay, Lake Louise, LLSA, Sunshine, West Side 93N, Field.

Cool temperatures are forecast for Thursday, but pay attention to solar radiation and how quickly the day is warming up. Some loose wet avalanches may occur if day is warmer then forecasted.

Plan on starting and finishing your day early.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

No slab avalanches reported in the last few days.

Last week, on Saturday, skiers in the Ferris Glacier area remote-triggered a wind slab 60 cm deep on NE alpine terrain at ~2750 m. On Friday, skiers remotely triggered a wind slab at ~2850 m on St. Nicholas size 2.5 that stepped down to deeper layers in a rocky area, and occurred on steep, unsupported ENE facing terrain.

Snowpack Summary

Crusts on solar aspects to ridgetop, with crusts on all aspects at treeline and below. 20-40 cm of dry snow on north-facing alpine slopes with wind slabs in alpine lee areas.

In thinner snowpack areas a 30-70 cm stiff midpack sits over weak facets and depth hoar. On high north slopes, this weakness remains a concern. Elsewhere, crusts in the upper snowpack overlay this midpack slab. If these crusts are thick, and remain frozen, they provide some strength over the weakness.

Weather Summary

Thursday - mix of sun and cloud, cool temperatures (alpine highs -3°C), light northerly winds, and freezing levels 1900 - 2000 m.

Friday - will see mostly sunny skies, warmer temperatures (alpine highs -1°C), light westerly winds, and freezing levels to 2400 m.

Saturday - slightly cooler, cloudy skies and light flurries, up to 5-10 cm possible.

Problems

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.