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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 26th, 2025–Apr 27th, 2025

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

Cooler, cloudy weather with light precipitation is expected on Sunday. Freezing levels will rise to around treeline.

Avalanche hazard will be lower in the morning, and will depend on the quality of the overnight refreeze and the amount of daytime warming. Start and finish early.

Click the link for more info on spring conditions.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

Solar heating contributed to increased loose wet avalanche activity on E-S-W aspects on Saturday, beginning on steep solar aspects by noon. By mid afternoon, we were seeing the crust break down which resulted in a loose wet avalanche cycle to size 2.

We also received reports of recent cornice releases in the afternoon over the past couple of days.

Snowpack Summary

Surface crusts exist to ridgetops in the morning on solar aspects, and on all aspects at treeline and below. The top 10-20 cm of snow on solar aspects was getting moist by noon on Saturday.

North alpine slopes hold 5-15 cm of dry snow over firm surfaces. The March 27 crust is 30-70 cm deep and extends to about 2500 m on North slopes, reaching the ridgetop on solar aspects.

Below the settled mid-pack, weak facets and depth hoar remain.

Weather Summary

On Sunday, cloud cover will increase, accompanied by light precipitation as a low-pressure system moves into the forecast region. Treeline temperatures will be between -1°C and +3°C with light SW winds.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • A moist or wet snow surface, pinwheeling, and natural avalanches are all indicators of a weakening snowpack.
  • Start your day early and be out of avalanche terrain during the heat of the day.

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.

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.