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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 6th, 2014–Mar 7th, 2014

Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Alpine
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Alpine
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Regions

Little Yoho.

Nice powder skiing to be had, just stick to conservative terrain with little overhead hazard. We will be conducting avalanche control on Mt. Bourgeau on Friday, no outdoor activities there during that time. SH

Weather Forecast

Light snow accumulations expected for Friday with W winds light gusting moderate and temperatures in the alpine will be in the -5 to -10C range.  The weekend forecast currently is for strong westerly winds Friday night and Saturday with another 10-20cm (less amounts in the Banff region) possible by the end of the weekend. 

Snowpack Summary

Sunshine, Kootenay and Yoho areas have received up to 60cm of storm snow since March 2. Lesser amounts of 25-30cm around Lake Louise and Bow Summit. 40-100cm on the Feb 10 interface of facets,surface hoar,suncrust is producing moderate to hard, sudden planar results. Fresh wind slabs up to 40-60 cm deep in the alpine are reactive to skier control.

Avalanche Summary

We had limited visibility today. Two significant skier triggered avalanches (Class 2 and 2.5) reported at 1700 m (east aspect) in Kootenay yesterday. These initiated 50-100 cm down on the Feb 10 interface and propagated up to 100 m. Less avalanche activity has been observed in the Louise group over the last few days.

Confidence

Due to the number and quality of field observations on Thursday

Problems

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.

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.