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

Mar 7th, 2021–Mar 8th, 2021

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

Regions

Kananaskis.

The recent heat has helped to settle the snowpack, but we are still seeing localized wind slabs near ridges that could react and avalanche. 

Confidence

High -

Weather Forecast

Tomorow will start with a temperature of -12, but warm up to about -6 by mid afternoon. No significant snow is forecast, but some isolated flurries are likely. Winds will subside as the day goes on and settle at L/SW by mid afternoon.

Avalanche Summary

A few minor loose dry sluffs out of steep, wind exposed areas. No new slab avalanches.

Snowpack Summary

A walk to Tent Ridge today had 5-10cm low density snow on top of an insulated crust from the past few days. This crust is about 4cm thick and more pronounced on solar aspects. At treeline, the underlying crust was replaced with a hard windslab that was basically in the surface. A quick hole had the Feb 19th interface down 50-60cm and inconsistently reactive in tests. Despite a well settled snowpack in tests, we still bailed from the ridge early, suspecting reactive windslabs in the immediate lee.

Terrain and Travel

  • Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind affected terrain.
  • Avoid lee and cross-loaded terrain.
  • Pay attention to isolated alpine features as well as cross-loaded features at treeline.
  • Be alert to conditions that change with elevation and sun exposure.
  • Avoid sun exposed slopes when the solar radiation is strong, especially if snow is moist or wet

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.