Avalanche forecast

Kananaskis

Feb 4 – 5, 2017Alberta Parks
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Avalanche danger

Sun
Mon
Alpine
4 · High
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

Times are changing.  New snow and winds are causing avalanche danger to increase.

Avalanche problems

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely - Possible
    Size
    2–3
    Triggering of these slabs from a thin weak area may cause an avalanche that involves the deeper layers and the entire snowpack. 

  • Loose Dry

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Very Likely
    Size
    1
    Loose dry slides may trigger storm slabs on underlying slopes.

  • Storm Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    1–2
    Recent new snow on Saturday and into Sunday combined with moderate westerly winds will build new storm slabs in alpine terrain.

Weather Forecast

An additional 20cm of snow is forecast to fall over the next 24hrs with winds beginning to increase into the moderate range.  Winds will continue to be cold.

Avalanche Summary

A few loose dry avalanches up to sz 1 were observed out of steeper terrain in the alpine. 

Confidence

Moderate - Intensity of incoming weather systems is uncertain on Sunday

Snowpack Summary

20cm of recent storm snow (2150m) sits on top of a widespread hard wind slab from the Jan 29th wind event. The thickness of this slab varies between 10 & 30cm. A touchy facet layer sits below the hard wind slab. The midpack is consistently weak. The Nov 12 basal crust is still intact in some areas with depth hoar and facets below. The storm came in with very little wind. At the moment its thought there are isolated alpine storm slabs in immediate lee areas

Regions covered