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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 3rd, 2014–Apr 4th, 2014

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

Regions

Little Yoho.

Excellent ski quality on N aspects. Avoid thin snowpack areas where the basal layers can be triggered. SH

Weather Forecast

The sun should not be a large factor over the next couple days. Up to 10cm is expected thursday night through Friday with temperatures staying fairly cool in the alpine (-10C at 3000m) and highs of around 0C at valley bottom. Westerly winds will pick up tonight into Friday gusting as strong as 75 km/h in alpine areas.

Snowpack Summary

Western areas such as Emerald and Field have a deep and stable snowpack. Contrast this with the Lake Louise and Sunshine areas, where a weaker snowpack is showing signs that the ground level layer of facets is waking up again - slowly. This layer has been dormant since February. A crust exists on all but N aspects.

Avalanche Summary

Lake Louise avalanche safety was reporting large whumpfs in shallow alpine areas today.  A profile on one of these slopes found very easy compression results on the basal depth hoar.  Yesterday a size 2.5 failed on the ground from an explosive at the Lake Louise ski area, and a cornice failure on Mt. Rundle triggered an avalanche in the afternoon.

Confidence

Problems

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.

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.