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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Nov 21st, 2020–Nov 22nd, 2020

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

Regions

Kananaskis.

The winds keep pushing that Moderate alpine rating back a day. We don't have enough direct observations to give us enough confidence to lower it right now. In the meantime, travel conservatively and just enjoy being out. Caution if tomorrow's warming trend materializes!!

Confidence

Moderate -

Weather Forecast

For the Highwood area we are expecting a rapid warming trend starting around 10am. Temperatures will go from -10 to -1 over a couple of hours. Clouds will be thin so expect some solar radiation to creep into teh snowpack as well. Aside from that, there will be nothing too exciting for the day. Moderate west winds, no snow and partly cloudy skies. 

Avalanche Summary

Nothing new today.

Snowpack Summary

An average weather day today hasn't changed things very much. The only potential exception was the continued strong alpine winds. We expect the windslabs have continued to build with only a slight strengthening between the layers. The crust will still be down 20-50cm, depending on snow distribution. Cornices are building as well, but how they will affect the avalanche triggering remains to be seen.

Terrain and Travel

  • Avoid areas with a thin or variable snowpack.
  • Avoid shallow, rocky areas where the snowpack transitions from thick to thin.

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.

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.