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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 20th, 2014–Mar 21st, 2014

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

Regions

Kananaskis.

Lots of new snow is available for transport right now.  Keep a close eye on the winds where you plan on skiing.  Stability will quickly decrease as soon as the winds increase...

Weather Forecast

25cm of new snow has fallen over the past 24hrs (as of 4pm) and another 10cm of so is expected overnight.  Winds will generally be light out of the NW over the next few days and temperatures are forecast to be cool.  Lots of new snow is available for transport at higher elevations so keep a close eye on the winds.

Avalanche Summary

A few loose dry sluffs were observed throughout the day on Thursday but generally, conditions were obscured and there was no good opportunities to get a look around.

Snowpack Summary

Up to 25cm of new snow has fallen over the past 24hrs with very little wind affect expect along ridgelines and peak in Alpine terrain.  This new snow is generally bonding well but loose dry sluffs are being observed on solar aspects wherein this new snow is overlying a sun crust.  These solar aspects will be the touchy over the next few days.  The 0211 is down generally 1m at treeline throughout most of the forecast region producing anywhere from hard to easy results depending on the depth of this interface.  Dig often and dig frequent to evaluate this layer

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.

Loose Dry

Loose Dry avalanches are the release of dry unconsolidated snow and typically occur within layers of soft snow near the surface of the snowpack. These avalanches start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-dry avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs.