Avalanche forecast

Kananaskis

Feb 2 – 3, 2013Alberta Parks
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Archived · expired 14 years ago

Avalanche danger

Mon
Tue
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

Winds at upper altitudes are still transporting snow into lee features. Wind slab formation continues. Some increase in avalanche hazard could occur on solar aspects due to daytime heating.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–4
    Up to 30cm of snow has fallen at upper elevations over the past week. This snow has formed soft and hard wind slabs up to 30cm thick in Alpine open terrain.

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    2–4
    Buried wind slabs should be expected throughout the region. These slabs are now buried by the recent snow making them tougher to locate. Use caution in thin areas where these slabs may be more sensitive to triggering.

Confidence

Good

Weather Forecast

Winds will remain strong from the western quadrant and temperatures will be cooler on Sunday. A light precipitation event is expected on Monday, but not significant snowfall amounts are expected.

Avalanche Summary

Report of a few small cornice failures on a S aspect in the Chester Lake area.

Snowpack Summary

A few new cm of snow at higher elevations in the past 48 hours.  Close to 30cm of new snow is now overlying the 0123 windslabs/storm snow interface.  Mid day on friday the chinook started rolling in, winds increased and wind slabs begin to further develop in Alpine areas due to the strong SW flow.  The snowpack is weak and facetted in lower elevations but above 2000m the midpack gains strength and improves.  140cm on average at TL.

Regions covered