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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 21st, 2015–Dec 22nd, 2015

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

Regions

Little Yoho.

Enjoy the great ski conditions over the Christmas Holidays!

Weather Forecast

A westerly flow with light alpine winds continues through Tuesday and Wednesday. Expect clearing skies and only trace amounts of snow. Temps will drop with highs near -4'C and lows of -17'C at tree line on Tuesday.

Snowpack Summary

10-20cm of recent snow with Light to Moderate SW winds has formed isolated wind slabs in immediate lee areas in the alpine. The Dec 3 surface hoar is 40 to 70cm deep. Shears persist on this layer in some locations between 1700 and 2150m, however it is becoming less reactive in most places.

Avalanche Summary

Some small loose dry avalanches have been observed in very steep alpine terrain. Local ski areas were able to trigger small wind slabs up to size 1 in the alpine with avalanche control. No new natural slab avalanches have been observed.

Confidence

Due to the number of field observations

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.