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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Nov 21st, 2019–Nov 22nd, 2019

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

Snowpack is still shallow. Pay attention to rocks hiding just below the surface.

Weather Forecast

Friday will be mixed sun and cloud with no snow expected. Day time high in Lake Louise area will be around -2. Light snow begins on Saturday.

Snowpack Summary

15-30 cm of facetted snow overtop of a melt freeze crust from early November (crust only exists below 2300 m). Below this crust unconsolidated facets exist to ground. Treeline snow depths range from 50-80 cm, with up to 110 cm in wind loaded alpine areas. Isolated areas of wind slab exist at ridgetops and cross loaded features.

Avalanche Summary

On field trip to Bow Summit several loose dry avalanches observed from steep, rocky alpine terrain to size 1.5. These appeared to be triggered by solar warming.

Confidence

Problems

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.

Deep Persistent Slabs

Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.