Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 31st, 2023–Apr 1st, 2023

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

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 unlikely, human triggered possible.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Regions

Kananaskis, Bow Valley, Highwood Pass, North 40, Spray - KLakes.

The shady aspects are still holding dry snow. The cost of admission will be crunchy crust uptracking/skiing to get somewhere cooler and drier, but it could be worth the effort. Shady areas are skiing well. No joke!

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

No avalanches have been reported today.

Snowpack Summary

Crust season is underway. Anything with a hint of solar exposure now has a 3-5cm crust. Valley bottom is still unsupportive underneath the crust. The surface crust extends to alteast 2200m and even higher on south and southwest slopes. At about 2000m there's a bit more structure and the snowpack is supportive. This is where the trouble layers start to become more apparent. The weak facet and depth hoar is down about 60-80cm at treeline and the weak basal layers are down about 120-150cm. Winds picked up today with noticeable transport at ridge top.

Weather Summary

Once again, forecasts disagree on incoming snow amounts, but the lowest number is 50cm and the highest is 60cm. Not only that, the winds will be dead calm at all elevations. This is also consistent with the weather patterns this year. And if that isn't enough, cloud cover will be light which will keep the snow dry all day. How's that for a forecast? Almost too good to be true.

Sorry, this is the best short notice April Fools joke I could come up with that's bulletin friendly. I know, not my best material. Anyway, moving on...The real forecast is a bit more Ho Hum. Light flurries, light westerly winds with moderate gusts at ridgeline. Max temperature of -4 and a freezing level of about 2000m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

In areas where deep persistent slabs may exist, avoid shallow or variable depth snowpacks and unsupported terrain features.
Minimize exposure to sun-exposed slopes when the solar radiation is strong.

Problems

Deep Persistent Slabs

Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.

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.