Banff, Yoho and Kootenay National Parks
Issued: Wednesday, April 19, 2006 15:28
Valid Until: Thursday, April 20, 2006 16:00
Bulletin Area: This forecast covers the east and west sides of the Continental Divide from the Wapta Icefields area in the north to the Sunshine area in the south. It also includes the Main Range area from Lake Louise to Bow Summit.
Avalanche Danger Rating:
| |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
| Alpine |
Considerable |
Considerable |
Considerable |
| Treeline |
Moderate |
Moderate |
Moderate |
| Below Treeline |
Low |
Low |
Low |
Synopsis: Cool temperatures and gusty winds kept the North aspects in the Alpine feeling rather wintery again today. With no new load and little snow available left for transport the avalanche activity has settled down somewhat. However field tests on the Divide Glacier west of Lake Louise on a North aspect found the preserved surface hoar down 50 cm and getting moderate test results. With these atypical spring conditions back country users will have to evaluate each slope before jumping into those bigger lines. The evidence of this weeks natural avalanche cycle is every where and some of the slides were very large. Triggering an avalanche on the buried surface hoar layer will have catastrophic consequences and caution is advised. Be very careful around and under cornice features as they are large and easily triggered now.
Daytime heating is also a concern on south aspects as the temperatures got above freezing to treeline.
Avalanche Activity: No new activity was observed today.
Outlook: It looks like we should see some precipitation by late Friday. At this point the amounts forecasted are limited and should not put too much new load on the snowpack. We should see a slow improvement to the avalanche danger but are going to be stuck with those surface hoar pockets for quite some time.
Travel Conditions: The snow is becoming more wind pressed but the turns are still out there. At this time of year you get some powder in the morning and go for a mountain bike ride in the late afternoon... how cool is that? MH
Past 24 hour weather:
|
|
Bow Summit (2010m and 2925m) | Sunshine (2195m and 2620m) | North Kootenay (1985m and 2405m) |
|
Maximum (ºC)
|
N/A | +6 | +7 |
|
Minimum (ºC)
|
| -6 | -7 |
|
Snowfall (cm)
|
| 0 | 0 |
|
Precipitation (mm)
|
| | |
|
Snowpack (cm)
|
| 186 | 190 |
|
Ridgetop wind direction
|
| West | South |
|
Wind speed
|
| lt to mod | lt to mod |