Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 29th, 2024–Jan 30th, 2024

Alpine

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

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 possible, human triggered probable.

Alpine

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Regions

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

It's a good idea to keep avoiding all avalanche terrain and spend time at the ski resort. Let the snowpack adjust.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

No field team or reports today.

Snowpack Summary

No field teams or road patrols today. Looking at the weather stations, our highest stations 2300m it is well above zero degrees. From that we can speculate that there is a natural avalanche cycle happening on most aspects at most elevations. A good time to avoid avalanche terrain and let this storm move through and get back to normal temperatures.

Weather Summary

Tuesday will remain cloudy and windy from the SW. Freezing levels may drop a bit down to 2000m, but thats still quite high for January!

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

Back off if you encounter whumpfing, hollow sounds, or shooting cracks.
Be carefull around freshly wind loaded features.
In areas where deep persistent slabs may exist, avoid shallow or variable depth snowpacks and unsupported terrain features.
Watch for unstable snow on specific terrain features, especially when the snow is moist or wet.

Problems

Loose Wet

Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.

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.

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.