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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 24th, 2017–Apr 25th, 2017

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

Little Yoho.

Mainly cloudy skies should keep heating to a minimum at upper elevations but watch for daily heating to break down crusts below treeline where recent heating has weakened the snowpack.

Weather Forecast

Strong solar heating on Sunday added heat to the snowpack. A decent refreeze was found Monday morning and while heating was progressing rapidly at first, snow squalls moving though some areas turned this around. Expect another 5 to 10 cm by the end of Tuesday and mainly cloudy skies through Thursday which will hopefully keep heating in check

Snowpack Summary

Up to 10 cm overnight and today brought by local squalls. At treeline and above, melt freeze crusts exist to ridge top on solar aspects, while on north aspects, dry surface snow still exists above ~2300m. Below 2000m the snowpack becomes wet during the day and is becoming isothermal. The weak basal facets remain a concern mainly in alpine areas.

Avalanche Summary

Sunday, Forecasters received a report of a party of 2 being involved with a size 2 avalanche that was cornice triggered in a N facing couloir by Boom Lake. Both party members were caught by snow that the cornice entrained, and partially buried. One skier was carried further than the other and sustained minor injuries and a lost ski pole.

Confidence

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.

Cornices

Cornice Fall is the release of an overhanging mass of snow that forms as the wind moves snow over a sharp terrain feature, such as a ridge, and deposits snow on the downwind (leeward) side. Cornices range in size from small wind drifts of soft snow to large overhangs of hard snow that are 30 feet (10 meters) or taller. They can break off the terrain suddenly and pull back onto the ridge top and catch people by surprise even on the flat ground above the slope. Even small cornices can have enough mass to be destructive and deadly. Cornice Fall can entrain loose surface snow or trigger slab avalanches.

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.