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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 20th, 2021–Dec 21st, 2021

Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
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

Banff Yoho Kootenay.

Pay attention to local winds and the creation of fresh wind slabs.

Weather Forecast

The arctic High dominates the air mass bringing clear and cold conditions for Tuesday. Light flurries begin on Wednesday with 10-20 cm accumulated by Friday. The winds start to pick up on Tuesday with ridge-top values in the 40-60 range.

Snowpack Summary

15-25 cm of low density surface snow with wind effect and some windslabs in the alpine and tree-line. There is 40-60 cm over the Dec 2 rain crust which exists below 2200. This layer will likely become an emerging problem as facetting occurs around the crust. The mid and lower pack is well settled

Snowpack depths at treeline are from 120 to 180 cm.

Avalanche Summary

Two skier triggered avalanches were reported on Sunday. One was a wind-slab near Bow Summit in the alpine (Size 1.5). The other occurred outside the LL ski are boundary on the exit to Purple Bowl. There was no involvement but it was reported as 25m wide by 200m long.

Look for further details on the MIN.

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.