Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 3rd, 2025–Jan 4th, 2025

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.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Kananaskis, Bow Valley, Highwood Pass, North 40, Spray - KLakes.

We're getting there! Seems like winter has decided to show up for 2025 after all. Cool temps and light snow are breathing new life into our season. Enjoy, but as always, keep tabs of your surroundings and snowpack.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

A few loose dry avalanches and sluffs from the past 24 hours. No slabs.

Snowpack Summary

Continued flurries and very light winds have continued to build our snowpack. Lee areas tucked into the main divide range have 20-30 of light snow, while the more wind exposed areas have seen some mild slab development. Overall the feeling is our shallow snowpack has weathered the dry spell reasonably well with only isolated areas of problematic crusts. That's not to say the Dec 7th and Oct crusts aren't worth some thought, but so far we haven't seen them really take off as an avalanche problem. That could very well change with additional load, either from active snow (trickle loading scenario), or wind loading. It's worth investigating the deeper layers to test how they are reacting to any new loading.

See attached profile from Burstall Pass for specifics. Burstall is our "deep snow" region, so its not completely representative, but it gives an idea.

Weather Summary

Overnight tonight will see a low of -12° on the Spray and -17 in the Bow Valley. Daytime high will increase to -7° on the Spray Road. The mild inversion is appreciated! Skies will be cloudy with continued flurries giving a few centimeters of snow. Ridgetop southeasterly winds will be light, but expect them to swing around to the NW by tomorrow afternoon.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

If triggered, wind slabs avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.
Pay attention to the wind; once it starts to blow, sensitive wind slabs are likely to form.

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.

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.