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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 23rd, 2017–Dec 24th, 2017

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.

Cooler temperatures are leading to an improving trend in the avalanche danger level. However, wind slabs at upper elevations still require careful evaluation.

Confidence

High -

Weather Forecast

Sunday will be a mix of sun and cloud with a high -17 Celsius in the Alpine. Winds will be light from the West. It looks like Santa won't be bringing any snow for Christmas Day.

Avalanche Summary

Several naturally triggered loose dry avalanches up to size 1.0 were observed in very steep Alpine terrain on all aspects. Otherwise no slab avalanches were observed or reported in the past few days.

Snowpack Summary

Cold temperatures and clear skies are leading to surface facetting. Wind slabs are found in the Alpine on all aspects and in open areas at Treeline immediately below ridge-crests in lee and cross-loaded terrain. The Dec 15th surface hoar layer is found down 20 to 30cm at elevations below 2200m, but the lack of an overlying slab means that this layer of concern is not yet active. The November crusts are beginning to facet and are producing generally hard results in stability tests.

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.