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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 2nd, 2019–Dec 3rd, 2019

Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Below Threshold.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Below Threshold.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Below Threshold.

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.  

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.

Problems

Wind Slabs

Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.