Avalanche Forecast

Issued: Apr 9th, 2014 3:00PM

The alpine rating is considerable, the treeline rating is moderate, and the below treeline rating is low. Known problems include Persistent Slabs and Wind Slabs.

matt.mueller, Alberta Parks

Kananaskis.

The Burstall area received 20cm last night in a localized storm. Winds have created some wind slab, but sheltered north aspects will still have good skiing. Watch the solar effect in the afternoon.

Summary

Confidence

Good

Weather Forecast

Thin cloud for tomorrow with temps hovering around zero in valley bottom. The thin cloud will limit some solar radiation, but expect a fair bit to sneak through. Alpine winds will pick up a bit, but still stay within the strong range (up to 60km/hr), and mostly come out of the NW. Valley bottom winds will be light from the west. No snow expected.

Avalanche Summary

Temperatures remained cool today. The only activity noted was pin wheeling on steep south faces.

Snowpack Summary

Areas near Burstall Pass received up to 20cm of storm snow last night. The winds associated with the storm have blown the new snow around at treeline and above. Its expected that there are new windslabs at upper elevations. At valley bottom, the sun and warm temps have already broken the new snow down and formed a dense layer that will freeze overnight to make a new crust. Below the new snow yesterday's warm temps have left a temperature crust up to 2400m on all aspects. Areas further north have had little change in the snowpack since yesterday. The overnight temperatures allowed the surface snow to refreeze and recover some of its strength. The trouble layers are still out there and are reactive when the temps warm up. The Feb 10 is down 110-130cm's on the Spray Road, and down 40-80cm's in the front ranges.

Problems

Persistent Slabs

Thin areas are the common thread with all activity on this layer. Remember, the surface snow may be settling faster than the deeper layers, as a result the burial depth for the Feb 10th will be reduced.

Be aware of thin areas that may propogate to deeper instabilites.>Be aware of the potential for full depth avalanches due to deeply buried weak layers.>

Aspects: All aspects.

Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.

Likelihood

Possible

Expected Size

2 - 5

Wind Slabs

These new slabs are expected to be short lived due to the warm nature of the surface snow and new snow. Steep, immediate lee areas are the most likely place to find this problem.

Avoid freshly wind loaded features.>

Aspects: North, North East, East.

Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.

Likelihood

Possible - Likely

Expected Size

1 - 3

Valid until: Apr 10th, 2014 2:00PM