Dashboard Regions Weather Stations Radar Alerts Glossary
Contact About
Log In

Register for an account and never miss a forecast again!

Register

Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 19th, 2020–Dec 20th, 2020

Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Alpine
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Regions

Kananaskis.

Sheltered areas at treeline are your best bet for good skiing. The alpine has seen better days, it's looking pretty wind blasted. Best to avoid it for awhile.

Confidence

High -

Weather Forecast

Snow is coming! Snow is expected to start around midnight and bring about 12cm by Sunday evening. If that wasn't enough, even more is coming for Monday afternoon. I won't say how much though...don't want to scare it off. As the snow plays through on Sunday temps will fall to -12 by evening. Winds will continue to be very strong in the alpine, but lower areas should escape the full brunt. Only 6-10km at valley bottom.

Avalanche Summary

Nothing was seen today in the Northern Spray area.

Snowpack Summary

A few centimeters came in last night, which helped the skiing. Oddly enough, the winds haven't taken a huge toll on the treeline elevation. Great skiing was had today in sheltered treeline areas. The alpine is a different story...and not in a good way. Extensive wind transport has crossloaded most features and stripped the westerly aspects to gravel. Windslabs are widespread, and plump. Overall the snowpack is doing well with no scary layers. The Dec 9th and Nov 5th are down 45cm & 90cm at treeline.

Terrain and Travel

  • Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind affected terrain.
  • If you are increasing your exposure to avalanche terrain, do it gradually as you gather information.

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.

Persistent Slabs

Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.