Avalanche forecast

Kananaskis

Mar 1 – 2, 2019Alberta Parks
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Archived · expired 8 years ago

Avalanche danger

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

Cold temps continue!  Avalanche control on Mt Buller and Third sister backside on Saturday PM.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–2
    Wind slabs are everywhere. In most areas they are resting on a thick layer of facets and could be easily triggered in unsupported terrain.  Cracking was observed by forecaters in Alpine terrain on Friday.

  • Deep Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely
    Size
    1.5–3
    This problem is a "low probability, high consequence" situation. While difficult to trigger, if the layer does fail it will result in a full depth avalanche.

Confidence

High -

Weather Forecast

A trace of more snow will fall overnight and conditions on Saturday are looking to be cold and clear. Winds will continue out of the NE and be light. 

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches were observed.

Snowpack Summary

Up to 10cm of snow has fallen over the past 24hrs under the influence of light NE winds. As a result, forecasters on Friday were observing pockets of skier triggerable windslabs in alpine terrain up to 20cm thick along ridgelines and in crossloaded features on all aspects. These slabs did not appear to extend far downslope but if winds continue, they may grow in size and become more reactive. Otherwise the cold temperatures have robbed the snowpack of any strength. In lower elevations weak facets to ground should be expected and the upper snowpack sluffs very easily in steep terrain.

Regions covered