Avalanche forecast

Kananaskis

Jan 4 – 5, 2015Alberta Parks
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Avalanche danger

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

We may see up to 8cm of snow overnight with calm winds but not enough to raise the current avalanche danger.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible - Likely
    Size
    1–3
    Caution around ridgelines and in gullied terrain.

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–3
    A layer of facets over this crust is continuing to produce results in the easy to moderate range.

  • Deep Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely - Possible
    Size
    2–4
    Not much activity on this layer of late but its still in our minds.

Confidence

Good

Weather Forecast

Up to 5cm of new snow is forecast overnight with continued cold temperatures.  Winds will continue to be light out of the NW but we can expect the temperatures to slowly increase up to the -10C range.

Avalanche Summary

One recent Na sz 1.5 on a NE aspect at 2300m.  40m wide, ran for 80m and was 20-30cm deep.  Suspect it failed on top of the 1213CR. 

Snowpack Summary

Light flurries continue along the divide with snowfalls totalling up to 5cm over the past 24hrs.  HST amounts are now up to 10-15cm with generally light winds.  New thin windslabs are building in alpine terrain.  Still lots of vaiability within the snowpack.  The Dec 13th Crust is being found up to 2200m throughout the forecast area.  This seems to be more of a eastern rockies feature and not being found as high in areas further to the west.  The midpack is generally 1F to P hard but in thinner areas it is more weak and facetted.  The 1106CR is facetting out in many areas but we have still seen some activity on this layer over the past week.  This is mainly in areas closer to the divide and not around the Smith Dorrien Corridor. 

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