Avalanche forecast

Kananaskis

Jan 12 – 13, 2017Alberta Parks
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Archived · expired 10 years ago

Avalanche danger

Fri
Sat
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

Natural avalanche activity has subsided but human triggered avalanches are still a real possibility.  Despite the danger level dropping, conservative terrain choices are still prudent. 

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–2
    Recent snow and wind have created fresh wind slabs immediately below ridge crests on all aspects. Reverse loading from the northerly winds is expected to diminish over the next few days as we return to a westerly flow.

  • Deep Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely - Possible
    Size
    2–3
    More likely to be triggered from thinner areas and step down to the basal facets and involve the entire winters snowpack.

Confidence

High - Due to the quality of field observations

Weather Forecast

Winds will continue out of the NW on Friday but the temps are slowly increasing.  No new precip for the next 5 days!

Avalanche Summary

No new natural avalanche activity was observed.

Snowpack Summary

Wind effect primarily on lee features and cross loaded areas in Alpine. Some areas have evidence of reverse loading from the northern winds so even look for these slabs on S and W aspects in some areas.  Faceted snow pack from top to bottom up to 2400m. Ski penetration to ground up to 2150m in most areas.

Regions covered