Avalanche forecast

Kananaskis

Apr 4 – 5, 2016Alberta Parks
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Avalanche danger

Wed
Thu
Alpine
No rating
Treeline
No rating
Below
No rating
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Highlights

Continue to evaluate crust recovery overnight and pay attention to the sun and freezing levels.  As they rise, the hazard increases this time of the year.

Avalanche problems

  • Cornices

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible - Likely
    Size
    3–6
    Cornices have absorbed a great deal of solar and ambient heat in the past week, they are vulnerable to failure and provide excellent potential triggers for slopes that have not yet avalanched.

  • Loose Wet

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely - Possible
    Size
    1–3

  • Deep Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    3–6
    The freeze overnight will likely provide for decent recovery and strong crust development thus improving the strength of the snowpack.  Having said this, any solar radiation will quickly deteriorate the snowpack stability and hazard.

Confidence

Moderate - Freezing levels are uncertain

Weather Forecast

Tonight some light snowfall is expected, up to 6cm possible with markedly cooler temperatures (-6.0) which should provide a meaningful freeze tonight.  Winds will be moderate to strong out of the west overnight and through Tuesday.  Freeze level will rise to 1900 meters in the afternoon.

Avalanche Summary

Natural avalanche activity has tapered off somewhat because of today's cooler temperatures but again a few large avalanches have been reported as of yesterday up to size 3.0 and there are still plenty of huge cornices that lurk above slopes which have not avalanched in the alpine.

Snowpack Summary

The snowpack is a mix of isothermal slop down low as last evenings recovery was almost non-existent.  At TL and above, it will depend on the extent of the freeze with elevation change.  The snowpack at treeline and above will be a mix of very well settled snow and variable strength crusts. Continue to monitor the freeze and warming as any heat inputs will undermine the delicate nature of the snowpack at this time and for the week ahead.

Regions covered