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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 26th, 2022–Jan 27th, 2022

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

Regions

Little Yoho.

Although conditions and the weather are good - it's a bit spooky out there with weak facets buried in the snowpack. Impossible to predict and only time will heal it. Natural avalanche are not expected, but skiers will trigger one in the right place.

Weather Forecast

A ridge of high pressure continues to dominate the weather pattern in our region with clear skies and light-moderate NW winds forecast for Thursday. Temperatures should remain below freezing in all areas except sheltered, south and west facing slopes where there could be local warming.

Snowpack Summary

Wind effect and wind slabs in the alpine and exposed tree-line areas and suncrust on steep south facing terrain. In sheltered areas, 20-40 cm of soft snow overlies facets and is good skiing. Facets and a weak mid-pack remain the dominant concern and the Dec 2 crust is down 100-150 cm and producing hard test results in most of Yoho.

Avalanche Summary

Skiers triggered a cornice that triggered a size 3 avalanche on the east face of Mt. Carnarvon (above Hamilton Lakes in Yoho Park) on Tuesday. This stepped down to a deeper persistent layer, which illustrates that big triggers or "hitting the sweet spot" can still produce large avalanches. Nothing new reported on Wednesday.

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.

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.