Avalanche forecast

Kananaskis

Jan 11 – 12, 2016Alberta Parks
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Archived · expired 11 years ago

Avalanche danger

Wed
Thu
Alpine
1 · Low
Treeline
1 · Low
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

Our once solid snowpack has lost the bulk of its original strength. If an avalanche does start, expect it to run far and fast as it entrains the loose snow.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely - Possible
    Size
    1–3
    The cold, calm weather has helped to improve this problem through the facetting process. Thin areas with either a solar aspect, or a depth hoar base remain concerning. Expect slabs to entrain loose snow if they do slide.

Confidence

Moderate - Wind speed and direction is uncertain on Tuesday

Weather Forecast

Mainly cloudy tomorrow with isolated flurries. No accumulation is expected from these flurries. It seems the inversion we've been experiencing lately has moved on. Tomorrow's alpine high is -8. The alpine winds will pick up slightly and hover around 40km/hr at ridge top.

Avalanche Summary

No field trip today, but suspect no natural avalanches.

Snowpack Summary

Another day of clear skies with a big variation in temperatures. The cold temperatures are weakening the snow pack more every day. The below treeline snowpack is still supportive, but we are seeing depth hoar near the ground. Shallow areas are particularly weak and bottomless. Treeline has kept a lot of its support while walking on skis, but shallow areas are weak and behave more like the traditional Rockies snowpack. The windslabs have begun to lose strength and in many places have facetted out. The alpine is generally wind affected with windslabs in immediate lee areas. The deeper layers have facetted and are getting weaker.

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