Avalanche Forecast

Issued: Mar 22nd, 2018 3:00PM

The alpine rating is moderate, the treeline rating is low, and the below treeline rating is low. Known problems include Wind Slabs and Cornices.

Alberta Parks mike.koppang, Alberta Parks

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Kananaskis.

Convective flurries keep giving us little amounts of snow which is nice.  The sun may come out on Friday so pay close attention to the strength of solar radiation on more southern aspects.

Summary

Confidence

High -

Weather Forecast

Winds out of the NW are forecast to increase on Friday and temperatures are also supposed to cool down back to the -10C range.  We will likely see a few cm of new snow via convective flurries also.  The sky is forecast to be a mix of sun and cloud so pay attention to the affects of solar radiation on solar aspects.

Avalanche Summary

Loose dry sluffing up to sz 1 has been the only avalanche activity in the past 24hrs. 

Snowpack Summary

Convective flurries continued overnight and throughout the day giving us another 5cm of snow.  This is the overall theme at this time of year, convective flurries giving us 5-10cm every few days.  Crusts dominate the solar aspects and make the skiing challenging while northern aspects are holding dry snow right down to the valley floor.  Pockets of windslabs should be expected along ridgelines in the alpine as well as cornices are large and looming overhead of many slopes right now.  Keep an eye on solar radiation.  If the sun comes out, solar aspects will det'r quickly!  Start earlier than normal

Problems

Wind Slabs

An icon showing Wind Slabs
isolated windslabs in alpine areas along ridgelines and crossloaded features. Watch for these at the entrances to runs.
Use caution in lee areas. Recent wind loading have created wind slabs.Avoid freshly wind loaded features.

Aspects: North, North East, East, South East.

Elevations: Alpine.

Likelihood

Possible

Expected Size

1 - 2

Cornices

An icon showing Cornices
Overhead cornices loom along ridgelines. As daytime temps warm up, these will become weak and have potential to collapse.
Cornices become weak with daytime heating, so travel early on exposed slopes.Pay attention to overhead hazards like cornices which could easily trigger deep slabs.

Aspects: North, North East, East, South East.

Elevations: Alpine.

Likelihood

Unlikely - Possible

Expected Size

1 - 3

Valid until: Mar 23rd, 2018 2:00PM

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