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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 24th, 2018–Jan 25th, 2018

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

Regions

Kananaskis.

A few cms of new snow is incoming overnight but this will not be enough to cause a significant change in danger levels.  A few large avalanches this past week indicate the basal layers may be starting to wake up. 

Confidence

High -

Weather Forecast

Cloudy with sunny periods and isolated flurries.Precipitation: Trace.Alpine temperature: High -6 °C.Ridge wind west: 30 km/h gusting to 55 km/h.Freezing level: 1500 metres.

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanche activity was observed over the past 24hrs.  Visibility was limited.

Snowpack Summary

Light flurries were falling throuhgout the day on Wednesday but there was very little accumulations by 1600.  Not much is changing out there right now.  Widespread windslabs in the alpine should be expected and these windslabs even extend down into treeline in some areas.  At treeline and below there are a few surface hoar layers in the top 1m of the snowpack that skiers need to be aware of.  Being down less than 1m, they are within the realm of skier triggerring.  Use caution in unskied areas, and in steeper or unsupported slopes.  THe Nov crust is also a basal layer that we are starting to see sporadic activity on these days.  Treat large alpine features with caution.

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.