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 27th, 2025–Apr 28th, 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.

Overall, the avalanche hazard will be lower over the next few days as we enter a cooler period following a warm spell, but sunny periods midday Monday will increase the potential for the new snow to fail on recent crusts.

Start early. Finish early.

Click the link for more info on spring conditions.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

Pretty quiet Sunday with mainly cloudy skies and cooler temperatures.

Solar heating Friday and Saturday led to the peak heating event so far this season with widespread loose wet avalanche activity on steep solar slopes. As upper snowpack crusts broke down, small alpine point releases gained mass at lower elevations reaching up to sz 2.

The heating also led to cornice releases and a few significant persistent slabs failing in the alpine in surrounding areas as well

Snowpack Summary

A few cm of new snow sits on surface crusts that exist to ridgetops on solar aspects, and on all aspects to around 2600m.

North alpine slopes hold 5-15 cm of dry snow over firmer 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

Freezing levels peaked around 2200m Sunday with periods of snowfall / rain.

Overnight freezing levels will drop to 1500m before climbing as high as 2500m Monday with some potential for sunny periods midday.

West winds will increase through Monday reaching strong values in the alpine and will bring some precip overnight into Tuesday.

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.