Avalanche forecast

Kananaskis

Feb 18 – 19, 2014Alberta Parks
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Archived · expired 13 years ago

Avalanche danger

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

New snowfall overnight will add additional load to the recently formed windslabs observed on lee features at treeline and above.  Strong winds in the forecast will result in further loading and increased sensitivity to human triggering.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely - Very Likely
    Size
    1–4
    The slab on top of this layer is becoming stiffer and more susceptible to widespread propagation across terrain .

  • Deep Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely - Possible
    Size
    3–5
    The basal weakness remains, and incoming snow and wind may lead to a re-awakening of this problem.

Confidence

Fair - Intensity of incoming weather systems is uncertain

Weather Forecast

Light snowfall began late afternoon with up to 15cm possible overnight and into Wednesday AM.  Winds are forecast to be strong to extreme resulting in some redistribution of storm snow onto lee features.

Avalanche Summary

no new observed or reported

Snowpack Summary

Test profile on a north aspect at TL highlighted a prominent weakness at the interface between the old surface crust and the recent storm snow.  Compression tests showed easy to moderate results down 77cm.  Numerous large and small settlements observed at treeline on a variety of aspects.

Regions covered