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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 16th, 2022–Mar 17th, 2022

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

Regions

Banff Yoho Kootenay.

Mount Whymper, Vermillion Peak, and Simpson Area avalanche closure zones are CLOSED on Thursday, March 17th for avalanche control.

Weather Forecast

SW flow continues for the next few days, expect mainly cloudy conditions and isolated flurries on Thursday and Friday with moderate west winds. Alpine temperatures expected to be in the -5 to -12 range.

Snowpack Summary

15-30cm of new snow overlies a variety of surfaces including a buried sun crust on solar aspects, previous wind effect, and soft snow on polar aspects. Several buried sun crust layers exist on solar aspects, the most concerning being the Feb 16 down 40-60 cm and Jan 30 down 50-80 cm. The lower snow pack is generally well settled

Avalanche Summary

Local ski hills reported a few explosives triggered windslab avalanches in the alpine up to sz 1.5 otherwise no new avalanches observed or reported.

Confidence

Problems

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.

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.