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

Apr 2nd, 2023–Apr 3rd, 2023

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

Regions

Banff Yoho Kootenay, Banff, East Side 93N, Kootenay, Lake Louise, LLSA, Sunshine, West Side 93N, Field.

There's a lot of uncertainty with the snowfall amounts due to the convective nature of this incoming weather system. The considerable danger rating will only materialize if we received the higher forecasted snowfall amounts.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches were reported or observed today.

Snowpack Summary

A few cm of new snow buries sun crusts to ridgetop and temperature crusts below 1500m.

The March 25 interface is down 5 to 15 cm and the March 12 interface is down 15 to 30cm. Both of these are represented by crusts on solar aspects and facets on shaded slopes.

The January sun crust and facet interface is down 40 to 120cm.

The November depth hoar at the base of the snowpack remains weak.

Weather Summary

An upslope weather system will bring 5-20cm of snow to the forecast region with greater snowfall amounts on the Eastern slopes. The convective nature of the weather system could deposit an even greater amount of snow than forecasted. Winds will remain relatively light and freezing levels near valley bottom.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Avoid thin areas like rock outcroppings where you're most likely to trigger avalanches failing on deep weak layers.
  • Loose avalanches may start small but they can grow and push you into dangerous terrain.
  • If triggered, loose dry avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.

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.

Loose Dry

Loose Dry avalanches are the release of dry unconsolidated snow and typically occur within layers of soft snow near the surface of the snowpack. These avalanches start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-dry avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs.