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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 8th, 2022–Feb 9th, 2022

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

Regions

Banff Yoho Kootenay.

There is a big warm-up on the way for Wednesday with freezing levels expected to reach almost 2200 m and valley bottom temperatures up to 5 degrees. Avoid avalanche terrain during the warmth and stick to shaded slopes, sheltered by trees.

Weather Forecast

There's a big warm-up coming our way. Strong NW flow will continue to produce 60 km/hr winds in alpine areas with up to 5 additional cm falling by Wed evening. Wednesday will see the freezing levels rise to between 2000 and 2200 m with even some light rain forecast for valley bottoms. Thursday also warm and cooling down for Friday.

Snowpack Summary

Strong winds have redistributed 20-30 cm of recent snow at upper elevations creating wind slab on lee slopes. At tree line and below the recent storm snow is beginning to develop into a slab, which overlays the Jan 30 surface hoar and sun crust. This interface is found 20 to 30cm down. Shallow snowpack areas remain weak and faceted.

Avalanche Summary

Lake Louise patrollers knocked out a few hard slabs to size 1 with explosives today. Sunshine did avalanche control and saw results of cornice and windslabs up to size 1.5.

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.