Avalanche forecast

Kananaskis

Mar 30 – 31, 2016Alberta Parks
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Archived · expired 11 years ago

Avalanche danger

Fri
Sat
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
2 · Moderate
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Highlights

Temperature at Burstall Pass was 8 degrees and loose wet avalanches were widespread and the skiing was heinous. This week will see more warm temperatures so give the snowpack time to cool off before considering any real ski touring objectives.

Avalanche problems

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    2–4
    This is a time when the snowpack has taken a great deal of heat and if temperatures and/or solar impact hits the steeper slopes, the heat in the snowpack will likely induce large destructive avalanches.

  • Loose Wet

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible - Likely
    Size
    1–3
    Expect the loose wet problem to accelerate when the sun comes out and depending on what kind of freeze materializes overnight.

  • Deep Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    3–6
    North and east aspects at treeline and alpine will continue to be suspect with the recent warming. Avoid big avalanche path runouts and give the big terrain a miss until a substantial cool down happens.

Confidence

Moderate - Timing or intensity of solar radiation is uncertain

Weather Forecast

Tomorrow the freezing levels will be slightly lower, down to 2200 meters. Light northwesterly winds. No precipitation. Mix of sun and cloud.

Avalanche Summary

Widespread loose wet avalanches up to size 1.5 observed today on all steep slopes. No cornice or slab avalanches observed yet.

Snowpack Summary

The snowpack is taking on a great deal of heat with the high freezing levels. Moist snow observed today on all aspects, limited observations on north but suspect moist snow to 2500 meters, possibly higher. The upper snowpack was exhibiting surface instabilities on steep slopes. The snowpack is highly variable but at treeline, it is a complex array of crusts in the upper snowpack from the warming events in February and March and the January 6th facets which are buried up to 110cm deep. In the alpine, the snowpack is again highly variable in depth and distribution making detection of the shallow areas critical.

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