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

Mar 23rd, 2018–Mar 24th, 2018

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 unlikely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Banff Yoho Kootenay.

Watch gullied terrain and terrain traps if it gets sunny. Watch for surface slabs and near surface slabs in large openings and areas of high consequence.

Weather Forecast

Light flurries and a mixed bag of sun and cloud into Sunday. Large inputs of solar radiation should increase the possibility of lose avalanches in the afternoon.

Snowpack Summary

Variable surface conditions with dry snow present on polar aspects above 1600 m and temp crusts to ridgetops on solar aspects. Small wind slabs found in the high alpine. Concern still exists for last weeks storm snow where it sits on a buried suncrust (down 20-30 cm) on south and west aspects. Shallow snowpack areas are also still a concern.

Avalanche Summary

A skier accidental involvement was reported in the Lake Louise area yesterday. This points to ongoing problems with the upper portion of the snowpack.

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.

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.