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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 3rd, 2019–Mar 4th, 2019

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

Regions

Kananaskis.

What more can be said? Cold air and facetted snow are with us for awhile yet. Decent skiing can be had, but keep an eye out for those "facalanches"!

Confidence

High -

Weather Forecast

Tomorrow will see a relative warm spell! Only -22 in the morning with a high of -10. Light NE winds and of course, no snow.

Avalanche Summary

Nothing new.

Snowpack Summary

Cold, dry and often loose snow is the flavor of the month so far. We are still seeing windslabs near ridges and cross loaded areas, but these seem to loose there typical "cakey" character very quickly. Despite not having a traditional windslab feel to them, they could still react simply because the underlying layers are weak, aerated facets.  As you get further down slope there is eventually no slab, or any true structure to the snow. In un-traveled areas, expect a weak, occasionally bottomless snowpack.

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.

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.

Loose Dry

Loose Dry avalanches are the release of dry unconsolidated snow and typically occur within layers of soft snow near the surface of the snowpack. These avalanches start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-dry avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs.