Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Kananaskis.
More snow is coming starting saturday night. It is uncertain how well it will bond with underlying surfaces. Keep terrain conservative until this question is answered.
Confidence
High -
Weather Forecast
Snow is coming. Some models suggest upwards of 15 cm by Sunday evening. All models agree with the expected alpine winds being sustained at the 40-60km/hr mark. Temperatures have already cooled to below zero and are expected to settle at -18 by Sunday night.
Avalanche Summary
Some pin wheeling and minor wet loose avalanches were seen yesterday. The majority were small, but in terrain traps they are significant enough to be a worry.
Snowpack Summary
Yesterday's warmer than expected weather made for moist snow up to 2400m (estimated). In sheltered alpine areas, the "refrigerated" pockets likely kept the snow dry. The Bow Valley saw some rain to basically peak height. Because of that there is now a new surface crust present. This rain likely occurred in the front ranges and possibly even Highwood Pass. In addition, we still have those deeper October crusts near the ground. So far they haven't done much in terms of being a weak layer, but the clock is ticking. In your respective ski areas, its worth having a look and seeing if its started to deteriorate.
Avalanche Problems
Wind Slabs
The new snow will form alpine windslabs which could flow below treeline in gullies. How these slabs will bond to the new temperature crust should be your main question tomorrow.
- Be careful with wind loaded pockets while approaching and climbing ice routes.
- Use caution in lee areas. Recent wind loading has created wind slabs.
- Use caution in lee areas. Recent wind loading has created wind slabs.
Aspects: North, North East, East, South East, South.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Likely
Expected Size: 1 - 2