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

Feb 29th, 2020–Mar 1st, 2020

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

Regions

Banff Yoho Kootenay.

Sustained winds along with new snow will keep the alpine hazard elevated. Limit your exposure to overhead hazards like cornices and remain cautious in thin snowpack areas where the basal weakness remains a concern.

Great skiing in sheltered areas

Weather Forecast

Mainly cloudy on Sunday with isolated flurries, West winds gusting up to 60km/hr and an alpine high of -12. Continued strong winds on Monday into Tuesday with small amounts of snow forecasted.

Snowpack Summary

10-20cm of new snow with moderate SW winds forming new wind slab in the alpine down to tree line. Watch for buried sun crust on steep solar aspects. The Feb 1 rain crust is down 30-60 cm and present below 1900 m. In thin snow pack areas a dense mid-pack sits over a weak, faceted base. Thick snowpack areas have a denser base with few weaknesses.

Avalanche Summary

Large cornice failures reported on Friday from the Crowfoot Glacier area, some of which pulled pockets of wind slab on the slopes below.

Suspect some natural avalanche activity on Saturday with recent snow and wind inputs, but no new observations due to poor visibility.

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.

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.