Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Little Yoho.
Look for terrain that is sheltered from the wind to enjoy the recent snow, and avoid steep wind loaded areas until the newly formed winds slabs have a chance to bond with the layers below.
Weather Forecast
A few cm's of new snow are forecast for Monday night with a mix of sun and cloud on Tuesday. Alpine winds will remain in the moderate to strong range out of the W and SW, increasing to strong Tuesday night before dropping to moderate again on Wednesday. Treeline temperatures will be in the -8 to -10 range on Tuesday.
Snowpack Summary
15-30 cm of storm snow at treeline. Extensive wind effect in open areas at treeline and in the alpine with wind slabs in lee areas. The Dec 13 and Dec 7 sun crust/surface hoar/facet layers are down ~ 70 cm and ~90 cm respectively. The decomposing Nov crust/facet layer sits at the bottom of the snowpack. Height of snow at tree line is 130-200cm.
Avalanche Summary
A number of size 2 natural wind/storm slab avalanches were observed in the alpine from Sunday's storm including one larger avalanche in the Mt Stephen path that ran down to just above the railway tunnel. Explosive controlled small wind/storm slab avalanches were reported by the local ski hills Monday, mostly in the alpine.
Confidence
Due to the number and quality of field observations
Avalanche Problems
Wind Slabs
Strong winds and recent snow have formed wind slabs in lee areas at treeline and in the alpine. The likelihood of triggering these is slowly going down, but it is a good idea to avoid travel on or under steep loaded terrain for the next couple days.
- Use caution in lee areas in the alpine and treeline. Recent storm snow has formed wind slabs.
- Watch for shooting cracks or stiffer feeling snow. Avoid areas that appear wind loaded.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Possible - Likely
Expected Size: 1 - 2.5