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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 10th, 2022–Feb 11th, 2022

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

Regions

Banff Yoho Kootenay.

Cooler temperatures should lower the hazard on Friday. Look for sheltered North facing terrain to avoid the surface crusts at lower elevations and the widespread wind effect up high.

Weather Forecast

Cooling temperatures overnight and Friday with treeline temperatures in the -8 to -12 C range. A trace of new snow overnight with a clearing trend on Friday and some solar heating as a result. Winds remain in the moderate to strong range out of the NW-N through Friday.

Snowpack Summary

Extensive wind effect in exposed areas above treeline, with wind slabs in lee areas at treeline and in the alpine. Jan 30 surface hoar and sun crust is down 20-30 cm and is becoming less reactive in tests. Temperature/sun crusts are present at lower elevations and up to 2200 m on solar aspects. Shallow snowpack areas remain weak and faceted.

Avalanche Summary

Only one stubborn small cornice failure and some small wind slabs with ski cutting were reported by the local ski hills on Thursday. Some natural solar triggered slides up to size 2 in the warmer Eastern parts of the region were also observed. No other natural avalanches observed or reported.

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.