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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 26th, 2021–Dec 27th, 2021

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

Regions

Kananaskis.

Cold weather presents its own set of problems while enjoying winter. If you do head out, simplify the objectives, bring extra food/clothing, and the biggest Thermos you can carry. Good Luck out there!!

Confidence

Moderate -

Weather Forecast

Well, its cold. And if the wind is factored in, it's really cold. If the forecast is to be believed, tomorrow will see a "high" of -22. Not terrible, but that still deserves some respect. As for new snow, there won't be any. Winds will be light out of the south.

Avalanche Summary

Nothing new was seen today. Like most people, we didn't get out for a field day, but we did patrol the area from the comfort of our warm trucks.  

Snowpack Summary

As the cold moved in there was about 10cm of new snow and further development of localized windslabs. But generally speaking everything ground to a halt as the cold air settled in. The windslabs have tightened up with the initial cold. Expect them to be slightly more reactive due to the increased "stiffness". Now we are in a holding pattern while we wait to see how pronounced the faceting becomes. Our snowpack will survive a short cold snap, but if it lasts expect the buried crust to quickly break down. 

Terrain and Travel

  • Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind affected terrain.

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.