Avalanche forecast

Kananaskis

Mar 4 – 5, 2013Alberta Parks
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Archived · expired 14 years ago

Avalanche danger

Wed
Thu
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
2 · Moderate
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Highlights

The natural avalanche cycle is tapering off, but slopes are still very touchy for human triggering. Evaluate terrain carefully before committing to a line and beware of overhead hazard.

Avalanche problems

  • Cornices

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely - Very Likely
    Size
    2–5
    Cornices have grown significantly in the past 3 days and several cornice failures occurred recently which triggered slab avalanches on the slopes below.

  • Loose Dry

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely - Very Likely
    Size
    1–3
    Recent snowfall and moderate winds has lead to sluffing from steep terrain on all aspects at all elevations.

  • Storm Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely - Very Likely
    Size
    2–5
    An additional 10 to 15cm in the past 24hrs has added to the already 50 to 70cm of storm snow. Slab development is present in lee and cross-loaded terrain. The natural avalanche cycle is tapering off, but prime conditions exist for human triggering.

Confidence

Good

Weather Forecast

Cool temperatures and light winds on Monday. Light snowfall and light winds for Tuesday and Wednesday.

Avalanche Summary

A reasonably significant natural avalanche cycle up to size 2.5 has occurred on all aspects and all elevations in the past 3 days. Avalanche control on numerous control zones today produced several avalanches in the size 2.0 to 2.5 range, all associated wit the recent storm snow.

Snowpack Summary

10 to 15cm of new snow in the past 24hrs. Storm snow totals range from 50 to 70cm. All elevations are exhibiting some storm slab formation, but this condition is more dominant at higher elevations. Cornices have grown significantly in the past several days. Sluffing is common in steep terrain.

Regions covered