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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 16th, 2016–Feb 17th, 2016

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

Regions

Little Yoho.

Many close calls in neighboring bulletin regions over the past few days give pause for thought. Stick to conservative terrain and there is some great skiing to be had right now!

Weather Forecast

The jet stream is over us so expect to get regular snow throughout the week. The next storm will come in on Wed PM and we should see continuous light snow accumulating to 10-20 cms by Friday PM. Freezing levels are warming to 1500m on Wed and spiking to 2000m on Thursday before lowering on Friday. Alpine winds will be moderate to strong W/SW.

Snowpack Summary

Fresh windslab and rapid cornice growth is occurring with 20- 40 cm of recent snow and moderate to strong W winds. A 60-130 cm slab overlies the January 6th weak layer of surface hoar (below 2000m), facets and sun crust. This layer is slowly breaking down but still giving hard sudden planar results in test pits. The lower snowpack is well settled.

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches observed or reported on Tues in Little Yoho. Forecasters on Mt Field on Tuesday saw evidence of a cycle 2-4 days old. Multiple size 2-3 avalanches failing on the Jan 6th layer in steep alpine terrain, often with a cornice trigger. Additionally, the Monarch slide path on Mt Field ran naturally size 2.5 within the last 48 hours.

Confidence

Freezing levels are uncertain on Thursday

Problems

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.

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.