Avalanche forecast

Kananaskis

Feb 29 – Mar 1, 2020Avalanche Canada
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Archived · expired 7 years ago

Avalanche danger

Mon
Tue
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
2 · Moderate

Highlights

Hopefully we will see the forecasted snow tomorrow. 15cm will be plenty to recharge a tired snowpack and make for better skiing. Read the problems section carefully as there are some important details regarding snow rate and underlying surfaces.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    1–2.5

    Tomorrow will surely see another wind slab form in open areas. Keep in mind this slab may sit on a crust or a dense layer from today's warmth. This bond may be suspect at first.

  • Deep Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely
    Size
    1.5–3

    There is a small chance the new load will overload the deep layers. We are expecting a significant rapid loading pulse early in the storm. Sparsely treed areas and thin crossloaded terrain are likely areas to cause trouble.

Confidence

Moderate -

Weather Forecast

Snow is on its way. Tonight we'll see snow starting around midnight. By 8am some forecasts say we'll get as much as 12cm. By mid afternoon we'll see 15cm. Alpine winds will also increase to 60km/hr with valley bottom seeing light winds. In both cases, they'll be out of the SW. Temps will also fall to -10 for the day.

Avalanche Summary

Nothing new.

Snowpack Summary

Lots of solar radiation crept through the clouds today. All aspects up to 1900m had moist snow and solar aspects up to 2100m also had moist snow. There may be a crust on steep solar tomorrow. Keep that in mind as the new snow arrives! Other than that we're seeing very little change overall. Windslabs on the top, a well settled mid pack and a loose bottom layer. Cornices are building and may shed a layer with tomorrow's new snow.

Terrain and Travel

  • Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind affected terrain.
  • Watch your sluff: it may run faster and further than you expect.

Regions covered