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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 5th, 2014–Feb 6th, 2014

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

Regions

Kananaskis.

Not much in the way of change...forecasters are still uncomfortable with the basal weakness in large and steep alpine features, especially n north aspects.  The probability of triggering a slide is low but the consequences remain high.

Confidence

Good

Weather Forecast

Wednesday  night is expected to be the coldest night of the current cold snap with overnight lows exceeding -35 again in the Smith-Dorrien valley.  Winds are expected to remain in the calm to light range.

Avalanche Summary

Nothing new.

Snowpack Summary

Surface facetting taking place. Sun crusts are present at all elevations on solar aspects and are remaining frozen through the day due to frigid temperatures. Alpine and treeline areas are highly variable in snow cover and condition, but wind slabs dominate the landscape. Basal weaknesses remain.

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.