Avalanche forecast

Kananaskis

Nov 17 – 18, 2017Alberta Parks
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Archived · expired 9 years ago

Avalanche danger

Sun
Mon
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
No rating
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Highlights

We've had enough snow recently to increase the coverage and avalanche hazard. How the wind distributes the snow is the big question. Watch closely for windloading as the winds increase.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible - Likely
    Size
    1–2
    The winds started to kick in this afternoon. Slabs will build quickly with the amount of available snow. Expect them to reach further down from ridge crests than we have been used to.

Confidence

High -

Weather Forecast

We are expecting snow to come in for Sunday. In the meantime, westerly winds will increase to 55km tonight and tomorrow. Flurries will accompany winds, but amounts won't add up much until Sunday. Temperatures will remain steady at -10°.

Avalanche Summary

Nothing new today.

Snowpack Summary

10-20 cm of new snow came in yesterday and last night. While below treeline areas are improving for coverage, we are still below threshold in terms of avalanche problems. At treeline, the story changes significantly. We have two layers of interest: the "Halloween" crust and recent windslabs. The crust depth varies, but it is generally down 30-40cm from the top. The windslabs sit above the crust and vary in thickness (on average 20-40cm). Tests have had repeatable failures immediately below the crust on a layer facets. As of this afternoon, winds were increasing with windslab development ongoing.

Regions covered