Avalanche forecast

Kananaskis

Nov 9 – 10, 2019Alberta Parks
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Archived · expired 7 years ago

Avalanche danger

Mon
Tue
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
No rating

Highlights

More snow is coming starting saturday night. It is uncertain how well it will bond with underlying surfaces. Keep terrain conservative until this question is answered.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    1–2

    The new snow will form alpine windslabs which could flow below treeline in gullies. How these slabs will bond to the new temperature crust should be your main question tomorrow.

Confidence

High -

Weather Forecast

Snow is coming. Some models suggest upwards of 15 cm by Sunday evening. All models agree with the expected alpine winds being sustained at the 40-60km/hr mark. Temperatures have already cooled to below zero and are expected to settle at -18 by Sunday night.

Avalanche Summary

Some pin wheeling and minor wet loose avalanches were seen yesterday. The majority were small, but in terrain traps they are significant enough to be a worry.

Snowpack Summary

Yesterday's warmer than expected weather made for moist snow up to 2400m (estimated). In sheltered alpine areas, the "refrigerated" pockets likely kept the snow dry. The Bow Valley saw some rain to basically peak height. Because of that there is now a new surface crust present. This rain likely occurred in the front ranges and possibly even Highwood Pass. In addition, we still have those deeper October crusts near the ground. So far they haven't done much in terms of being a weak layer, but the clock is ticking. In your respective ski areas, its worth having a look and seeing if its started to deteriorate.

Regions covered