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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 4th, 2014–Apr 5th, 2014

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

Regions

Kananaskis.

Still good skiing on tucked away north aspects. Between the strong sun and the winds, we can expect quick changes in conditions during the day.

Confidence

Good

Weather Forecast

No significant snow in the immediate future. There may be some convective flurries, but amounts will be small. Temperatures will creep up as we approach next week's heat wave. Daytime highs will be above 0 for valley bottoms. The winds are expected to fade away at ridge top overnight Friday.

Avalanche Summary

Isolated loose wet out of steep solar rocky terrain. No slabs observed

Snowpack Summary

Moderate winds have started to shift the alpine and upper treeline snow. By early afternoon today soft slabs were were forming on N to SE aspects. Crossloading was observed at treeline as well. The warm air has let the temperature crusts creep up in elevation. We can expect to see them up to 2200m by tomorrow. Any slope exposed to the sun will have sun crusts that are building daily. The Feb 10th layer is down 130cm's at treeline and giving hard shears in snow tests. This layer is getting better, but slowly.

Problems

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.

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.