Avalanche forecast

Kananaskis

Apr 12 – 13, 2014Alberta Parks
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Archived · expired 12 years ago

Avalanche danger

Mon
Tue
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

We have the Oct layer back on the radar. It has evolved into a thick layer of sugary depth hoar at the base of the snowpack. Tomorrow is expected to be a clear and cool day. Great conditions for those longer spring trips.

Avalanche problems

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    2–5
    Each day our confidence in this layer gets a little better. No failure was noted on today's profile. Thin areas however are still a concern. The east side of the Smith Dorrien and the front ranges will have more of a problem with this layer.

  • Deep Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible - Likely
    Size
    4–6
    Unlike the Feb 10th, confidence with this old layer is starting to fade. Today's pit had loose depth hoar on the bottom and was reactive in tests. Thin snowpack areas are likely trigger points. Warm temps will be a catalyst for this layer to wake up.

Confidence

Good

Weather Forecast

Good news for the winter fans out there. The warm weather that was expected for tomorrow has been pushed back for a day. Tomorrow will see the cool air remain over us, -15 is the forecasted low for the alpine. Freezing level is expected to be 1300m at midday. No precip and clear skies. Light winds from the north.

Avalanche Summary

Some isolated loose dry avalanches involving the storm snow. Up to sz1 and out of steep terrain.

Snowpack Summary

Up to 15cm of snow fell last night as the cold front moved in. Today's temperatures were cool enough to keep this snow cold an dry. The only exception is low south aspects, these were softening by 1200hrs. The temperature/sun crust that has been building over the last while is widespread below treeline and stretches into the high treeline right now. Today on Tent Ridge we found a hint of the crust at 2300m. A profile at 2350m had a snowpack depth of 145cm with dense snow (1finger) for the top 100cm's. Below this, the snow character immediately turned to a loose mix of depth hoar and facets. We measured a moderate compression test, sudden collapse on this layer.

Regions covered