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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 17th, 2015–Dec 18th, 2015

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

Regions

Little Yoho.

We should get a small storm on Friday which will refresh ski conditions, but not enough to change the avalanche danger. Remain vigilant with routefinding below treeline where the Dec. 3rd Surface Hoar may be lurking!

Weather Forecast

The ridge of high pressure will start to break down Friday morning. Friday afternoon into Saturday morning, a system will dump 5-10 cm at upper elevations with winds switching to moderate from the SW and freezing levels staying at valley bottom.  Saturday and Sunday will be partly cloudy with light precipitation and light west winds.

Snowpack Summary

In sheltered terrain between 1500m and 1850m, a 40-50cm soft slab sits over the large December 3rd surface hoar. This layer continues to produce whumphs and easy shears where it is present. No other significant shears have been observed. There is approximately 130-140cm at treeline.

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches observed in past few days.

Confidence

Due to the number and quality of field observations

Problems

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.