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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 18th, 2016–Dec 19th, 2016

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

The hazard continues to increase with the strong winds and some new snow on the way. More conservative terrain choices will be the best bet for the next day or two until the snowpack has a chance to stabilize.

Weather Forecast

Warmer temperatures and 10cm of new snow are forecasted to arrive on Sunday night and into Monday. This approaching system is expected to arrive with moderate to strong West winds at higher elevations.

Snowpack Summary

Moderate to strong winds are creating widespread wind slabs above tree line. The low elevation snowpack in the Little Yoho region is shallow and facetted with a total depth of <100 cm up to 2000 m elevation. Above that, the snow becomes much deeper and stronger with recent test results showing no significant weak layers or shears in the snowpack.

Avalanche Summary

Several natural and skier triggered wind slab avalanches up to size 1.5 were observed and reported on Sunday. Loose snow avalanches up to size 1.5 are occurring in steep terrain with the strong winds. Some of these avalanches are traveling further than expected because of the weak faceted snowpack acting as marbles near the ground.

Confidence

Forecast snowfall amounts are uncertain on Monday

Problems

Loose Dry

Loose Dry avalanches are the release of dry unconsolidated snow and typically occur within layers of soft snow near the surface of the snowpack. These avalanches start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-dry avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs.

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.