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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Nov 22nd, 2020–Nov 23rd, 2020

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

Regions

Kananaskis.

Until we get another round of snow there will be little change in our snowpack. Wide daytime temperature fluctuations are helping consolidate the surface windslabs.

Confidence

Moderate -

Weather Forecast

Another dry day tomorrow. No snow is expected. Winds will pick up to about 30km/hr from the west Temperatures will spike again during the day with a high of -6.

Avalanche Summary

There was a recent cornice triggered slab avalanche behind Pocaterra Ridge. It entrained a lot of snow from the cliff face, but didn't trigger the deeper layers below. From a distance maybe a sz2 on an east aspect.

Snowpack Summary

Today's sunny skies made for warm temps on southern exposures. Probably not warm enough to form a crust, but there is a slight chance of an isolated sun crusts around trees and rocks. As usual westerly winds scoured all windward slopes in the alpine. Lots of transport was noted, but not a lot of slab development as most of the snow was blown to Calgary and beyond. Other than that its business as usual: a buried crust down 20-50cm and surface windslabs near ridges.

Terrain and Travel

  • Avoid shallow, rocky areas where the snowpack transitions from thick to thin.

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.