Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Kananaskis.
Winds have moved snow around. Be on the lookout for wind slabs.
Confidence
Low - Uncertainty is due to limitations in the field data.
Weather Forecast
Wind is the story here. In the alpine, strong(50km/hr +) westerly winds started on Sunday and it looks like they will be around until Tuesday night. Temperatures on Tuesday morning in the alpine will be around -9c and warming to -6c. Flurries are expected to start on Tuesday and here is the catch: weather models are showing from 5-15cm of snow. Either way, we will get a bit of white stuff but stay tuned!!!
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches observed. Â
Snowpack Summary
Lots to say about wind!!!
The strong westerly winds that started on Sunday are expected to continue into Tuesday. These winds are stripping what snow we had and are creating a new wind slab which is sitting on recently faceted snow which will be sensitive to triggering especially along ridge lines and lee features. We also have buried wind slabs down 30-40cm from last week's winds. The October and November crusts are closer to ground but we haven't seen any avalanche activity on this layer just yet. The valley bottom is still challenging due to the lack of snow.
Avalanche Problems
Wind Slabs
This problem is regarding the wind slabs that are developing and the wind slab that is 30-40cm down.
Mostly concerned along ridge lines and lee features.
Aspects: North, North East, East, South East, South.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Possible - Likely
Expected Size: 1 - 2