Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Bow Valley, Highwood Pass, Kananaskis, North 40, Spray - KLakes.
New snow, Warm temperatures, variable conditions out there at the moment. assess the conditions carefully.
Confidence
High
Avalanche Summary
No field teams out today.
Snowpack Summary
Tuesday's storm brought warm temps and rain along the spray valley with above 0° temps in the afternoon. Places like Aster lake and the highwood received about 30cm of snow and slightly cooler temperatures. This will sit on top of a melt freeze crust everywhere except the highest of North aspects. The deeper layers are still a concern where the snowpack is thin or when the crusts break down.
Weather Summary
Tuesday storm cycle hit the more southern part of the range. Spray valley got warmer temps and rain, not great. Wednesday will see a mix of sun and cloud, day time high of -9 and 25-40km/h North wind. Freezing levels to 1400m
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- Be cautious of sluffing.
- Avoid thin areas like rock outcroppings where you're most likely to trigger avalanches failing on deep weak layers.
- Use caution above cliffs and terrain traps where even small avalanches may have severe consequences.
Avalanche Problems
Loose Dry
New storm snow sluffing easily on buried frozen layers.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Very Likely - Certain
Expected Size: 1 - 2
Wind Slabs
Fresh wind slabs are possible in immediate lee and cross loaded features within the new snow.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Likely
Expected Size: 1.5 - 2.5
Persistent Slabs
Still a problem on the polar, alpine areas.
Aspects: North, North East, North West.
Elevations: Alpine.
Likelihood: Unlikely
Expected Size: 2 - 3