Avalanche forecast

Kananaskis

Apr 3 – 4, 2014Alberta Parks
View on map
Archived · expired 12 years ago

Avalanche danger

Sat
Sun
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
2 · Moderate
Open full map

Highlights

Spring is in the air. Sun exposed slopes are stabilizing with the freeze/thaw process but the North aspects are still held in a winter snowpack. Watch for Spring hazards like loose wet avalanches and overhead cornices as the day heats up.

Avalanche problems

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible - Likely
    Size
    2–5
    Assess this problem carefully as you approach bigger or steeper terrain at treeline and above. Thin areas seem to pose more of a problem lately.  The Feb 10 layer is 120cm down, these avalanches have potential to be very large.

Confidence

Good

Weather Forecast

The storm heading our way is going to just nip the forecast area. Most of the precipitation will miss us to the north. We're only expecting 5cm's on the Spray Road. The wind and temps will remain similar to today, cool and calm in the morning and a sharp rise in temperature in the afternoon. The cloud cover will be fairly thin tomorrow, so watch for solar effect in the afternoon.

Avalanche Summary

No new activity today, but it felt like we were on the verge of a small solar cycle in steep alpine terrain.

Snowpack Summary

Dust on crust on all solar aspects and all elevations. With the warm air temps lately a weak temperature crust has also formed below 2000m on all aspects. The storm snow from the last week or so is still untouched by wind. The only exception is the high alpine where soft slabs may have formed. Below the new snow, the buried windslabs are bonding well to each other. However, the bond to the Feb 10 layer is still slow and weak in thinner snowpack areas. It is down 110-130 cm's at treeline. Cornices are becoming a problem with the high solar/air temps.

Regions covered