Dashboard Regions Weather Stations Radar Alerts Glossary
Contact About
Log In

Register for an account and never miss a forecast again!

Register

Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 26th, 2017–Dec 27th, 2017

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

Regions

Kananaskis.

Cold for the next few days.  Slower skiing due to the cold temperatures. 

Confidence

High -

Weather Forecast

Cold weather until at least Friday with overnight lows in the minus mid-twenties and daytime highs around -20c.  Isolated flurries for Wednesday with west wind at 20-40km/hr.

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches observed or reported.

Snowpack Summary

Not much changing in the snowpack at the moment, except more profound faceting due to the persistent cold temperatures. Wind slabs are found in the Alpine on all aspects and in open areas at Treeline immediately below ridge-crests in lee and cross-loaded terrain. The Dec 15th surface hoar layer is found down 20 to 30cm at elevations below 2200m, but the lack of an overlying slab means that this layer of concern is not yet active. The November crusts are beginning to facet and as they continue to become weaker, this layer will become problematic.

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.