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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

May 2nd, 2017–May 3rd, 2017

Alpine
Below Threshold.
Treeline
Below Threshold.
Below Treeline
Below Threshold.
Alpine
Below Threshold.
Treeline
Below Threshold.
Below Treeline
Below Threshold.
Alpine
Below Threshold.
Treeline
Below Threshold.
Below Treeline
Below Threshold.

Regions

Banff Yoho Kootenay.

Get up early and take advantage of the last good freeze for a while. We are expecting a widespread avalanche cycle with the forecasted warming temperatures on Thursday and Friday!

Weather Forecast

Tuesday should see a good overnight recovery with freezing levels to ~1200m. Freezing levels will rise to 3000m by Wednesday PM with no overnight recovery, further rising to 3500m the next morning. Skies should be mostly sunny with the occasional flurry/shower and winds are forecasted to increase to moderate SW through the day on Wednesday.

Snowpack Summary

Dry snow still exists on high north aspects. Moist surface snow and a variety of melt freeze crusts exist in the upper snow pack on all other aspects and elevations. A basal weakness remains at the bottom of the snow pack. It is currently only reactive to large triggers but may wake up with solar warming.

Avalanche Summary

A size 2 out of a low alpine (2400m) rocky solar aspect failed to ground today in the Sunshine backcountry. This was caused by a combination of warm ambient air temperatures and rocks in the slope absorbing the sun's radiation and additionally heating the slope.

Confidence

Problems

Loose Wet

Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.

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.

Cornices

Cornice Fall is the release of an overhanging mass of snow that forms as the wind moves snow over a sharp terrain feature, such as a ridge, and deposits snow on the downwind (leeward) side. Cornices range in size from small wind drifts of soft snow to large overhangs of hard snow that are 30 feet (10 meters) or taller. They can break off the terrain suddenly and pull back onto the ridge top and catch people by surprise even on the flat ground above the slope. Even small cornices can have enough mass to be destructive and deadly. Cornice Fall can entrain loose surface snow or trigger slab avalanches.