Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Bow Valley, Highwood Pass, Kananaskis, North 40, Spray - KLakes.
The crystal ball says warmer weather and maybe even some snow is in our future. Our under achieving snowpack may start to turn itself around with a bit new snow.
Confidence
High
Avalanche Summary
Nothing new today.
Snowpack Summary
Up to 5cm of recent snow is overlying mostly wind slabs in the alpine. These near surface wind slabs continue to be the most concerning issue in our snowpack. They are essentially widespread, but vary in thickness and density. Areas of hard slab are the most concerning as they are the most likely to propagate. In sheltered areas, or areas that haven't seen travel the snowpack is still very weak. While walking or skiing it isn't uncommon to punch to ground. Snowpack depths remain well below average. The snow profile below shows how weak the snowpack is in most areas.
Weather Summary
Overnight low of -11 and a daytime high of -5 for Thursday. Skies will be cloudy, but with only 50% cloud coverage, some welcome sun light will sneak through. There may also be a few flurries to add to the winter ambience of late February. Light to calm winds for the entire day.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- Carefully evaluate big and steep terrain features before committing to them.
- Avoid steep terrain, including convex rolls, or areas with a thin, rocky, or variable snowpack.
- Be careful as you transition into wind-affected terrain.
Avalanche Problems
Wind Slabs
Avoid hollow feeling wind slabs in alpine terrain, especially near thin or convex terrain. The wind slabs are also found at treeline but in more isolated pieces of terrain such as small gullies.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Possible
Expected Size: 1 - 2