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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 5th, 2017–Dec 6th, 2017

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.

Another day of good skiing.  Wind effect has started to show up near ridge line.  Careful evaluation is recommended here and for cross loaded feature.

Confidence

High -

Weather Forecast

The forecast for Wednesday will bring an Alpine temperature of 1c and a freezing level of 1800m.  Winds will continue from the northwest 25-35km/h.  Thursday and Friday will bring sunny skies with the freezing levels rising to 2800m along with NW winds around 30km/h.

Avalanche Summary

A few loose dry avalanches up to size 2 mostly on E to SE aspects, most likely from the recent NW winds.

Snowpack Summary

The recent NW winds have started to create windslabs on lee features and extent down the slope. Some wind pressed snow was observed on the windward aspects. Evidence of moderate wind loading was observed on cross loaded features in the alpine. The November crust layers are buried between 50 and 70cm. The basal layers of the snowpack are made up of a mix of crusts from October along with facets. These layers continue to show moderate to hard results in snowpack stability tests. The upper snowpack will change and become denser when the warm weather rolls in creating a slab on top of the November raincrust.

Problems

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.

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.