Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 4th, 2026–Feb 5th, 2026

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Kananaskis, Bow Valley, Highwood Pass, North 40, Spray - KLakes.

If you thought Wednesday was warm, wait for tomorrow! We'll be well into double digits in valley bottoms and not that far behind in the upper elevations. Limit exposure to sunny slopes and overhead hazard.

Confidence

Avalanche Summary

A small, sz 1.5 cornice fell off of Snow Peak today with a few sluffs noted in the higher hills.

Snowpack Summary

Wide variety of surface conditions depending on aspect and elevation. These include sastrugi, hard wind slab, soft wind slab, breakable sun crust, and limited quantities of soft snow in sheltered locations. Valley temps hit +7 today. Expect moist snow in the valley bottoms and on solar aspects to have formed a new crust, or at the every least made the existing crust thicker. Recent storm snow is being redistributed by strong winds in the Alpine. Fresh surface wind slabs averaging 30cm deep are forming in lee and cross-loaded terrain at upper elevations. The two surface hoar layers can be found 5-10cm below the surface and 35-50cm below the surface; they are breaking down and not likely to be triggerable. The deep persistent layer of the November rain crust is being monitored, but likely only triggerable in shallow snowpack areas.

Weather Summary

Tomorrow could be exceptionally warm. Expect a high of +4 at 2200m tomorrow! That puts the forecasted freezing level up to about 2400m. Pretty toasty for February. To make it even more pronounced, the sun should be shining for most of the day with west winds providing little surface cooling.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind-affected terrain.
Avoid steep, sun-exposed slopes when the air temperature is warm or when solar radiation is strong.

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.

Loose Wet

Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.

Cornices

Cornice Fall is the release of an overhanging mass of snow that forms as the wind moves snow over a sharp terrain feature, such as a ridge, and deposits snow on the downwind (leeward) side. Cornices range in size from small wind drifts of soft snow to large overhangs of hard snow that are 30 feet (10 meters) or taller. They can break off the terrain suddenly and pull back onto the ridge top and catch people by surprise even on the flat ground above the slope. Even small cornices can have enough mass to be destructive and deadly. Cornice Fall can entrain loose surface snow or trigger slab avalanches.