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, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Regions
Kananaskis.
A few more cm of snow will fall overnight. Watch for the sun coming out as solar radiation will rapidly decrease stability especially on solar aspects. One large avalanche was observed on saturday. Click details for more information.
Confidence
Fair - Timing or intensity of solar radiation is uncertain
Weather Forecast
Conditions will remain cool overnight and we can expect about 5cm of new snow throughout the night. Freezing levels will be around 1800-2000m. The forecast is calling for a mix of sun and cloud so expect stability to decrease when the sun comes out.
Avalanche Summary
There were a few small loose wet slides and one larger sz 3 avalanche on a SE aspect on commonwealth ridge. This slide was likely triggerred by solar radiation but it failed in the basal facets and ran full path the the end of its historical runout. Photo
Snowpack Summary
A few new cm of snow fell overnight on Friday and throughout the day on Saturday. This snow is overlying a thick melt freeze crust and there are isolated windslabs in alpine areas. Lower elevations are isothermal later in the day (or earlier if the freeze is poor) and the only dry snow you will be able to find is on sheltered north aspects.
Problems
Deep Persistent Slabs
Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.