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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 6th, 2016–Dec 7th, 2016

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.

Great skiing can be found if you are willing to brave the frigid temperatures. Watch for buried wind slabs along ridge-crests that could be human-triggered.

Confidence

High - Due to the number and quality of field observations

Weather Forecast

Arctic air has moved into the region bringing cold temps (highs near -21 °C) and generally sunny skies. Winds are generally going to be light from the North and no precipitation is expected for the next couple of days.

Avalanche Summary

Two small loose dry avalanches were observed today in very steep Alpine terrain on an East aspect.

Snowpack Summary

Up to 25cm of low density recent storm snow overlies a buried wind slab. In the Alpine these buried wind slabs are reacting to stability tests in the "hard" range. Isolated pockets of recently formed wind slab were observed at ridge-crest in the Alpine, formed both by reverse loading and lee loading. The Nov 12th crust is now buried 65cm at Treeline and has not been reactive to 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.