Avalanche forecast

Kananaskis

Jan 15 – 16, 2014Alberta Parks
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Avalanche danger

Fri
Sat
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
2 · Moderate
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Highlights

Another natural cycle was initiated on Wednesday from the warm temps and strong winds.  Winds will begin to ease off on Thursday but conditions are TOUCHY and at the higher end of considerable.  Be Very conservative.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    2–5
    Skier triggerable windslabs are being encountered as one moves into more treeline or wind affected features.  Two recent close calls were observed each around 2200m.

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible - Likely
    Size
    4–6
    Many large natural avalanches have been observed over the past few days.  These slides have involved the entire winters snowpack and ran full path to valley bottoms.  Heads up.

Confidence

Fair

Weather Forecast

Warm temps will continue and no new precip is forecast for the next few days.  The strong westerly flow is expected to die down a little but we can still expect moderate SW winds over the next little while.

Avalanche Summary

A few recent avalanches up to sz 3 have been observed over the past few days.  These slides have mainly been on N and E aspects but have been running full path involving the entire winters snowpack.  Two recent skier accidental and skier remote avalanche were also observed on N and SE aspects at treeline locations.  See here for more details.

Snowpack Summary

Strong to extreme SW winds and warm temps have promoted rapid settlement of the snowpack over the past 24hrs.  Any available snow in Alpine terrain has been redistributed by the wind and deposited in lee features and along cross-loaded gullies. The additional load from the winds seems to be kicking off another cycle of natural avalanche activity mainly on N and E aspects as the basal facets become overloaded.

Regions covered