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.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Regions
Kananaskis.
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.
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.
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.