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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 20th, 2014–Apr 21st, 2014

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

Regions

Kananaskis.

Solar radiation and aspect are the most important things to be aware of right now. Stability will detr throughout the day as it heats up so watch the sun and temps...

Weather Forecast

A few cms of new snow is forecast to fall overnight but not enough to significantly change the avalanche danger.  A mix of sun and cloud is forecast with freezing levels at 2200-2400m.  Stability will deteriorate on solar aspects when the sun comes out so be sure to pay attention to the aspect you are traveling on.

Avalanche Summary

The heat on Saturday caused a small cycle of natural avalanche activity on solar aspects. Evidence of a few wet slabs up to sz 1.5 were observed.

Snowpack Summary

Everyday the affects of the solar radiation climb higher. On Sunday, a temperature crust was found on a NW aspect up as high as 2500m. This crust made the skiing challenging. At lower elevations, there is a strong surface crust in the mornings and weak isothermal snow below this. Early starts are key to ensure you can get back to the trailhead before the crust breaks down. Dry powder snow can only be found on pure north aspects above 2200m.

Problems

Deep Persistent Slabs

Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.

Wet Slabs

Wet Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) that is generally moist or wet when the flow of liquid water weakens the bond between the slab and the surface below (snow or ground). They often occur during prolonged warming events and/or rain-on-snow events. Wet Slabs can be very unpredictable and destructive.