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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 12th, 2022–Jan 13th, 2022

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

Regions

Kananaskis.

Not much changing out there right now. What little snow is left on the windward sides continues to be added to the windslabs on the lee features. Drummy, hollow and spooky slabs are common in wind affected terrain right now. 

Confidence

High -

Weather Forecast

Light snowfalls or rain showers at lower elevations, warm temperatures with daytime highs around -3C and a freezing level around 2000m. These temps are doing very little for the ski quality right now but the long term is there will be a good base to look forward to the rest of the year!

Avalanche Summary

Ice Climbing was the name of the game today with the warm temperatures! Not much in the way of new avalanche activity on Wednesday. 

Snowpack Summary

The snowpack is settling with the recent warm temperatures. Unfortunately the strong to extreme westerly winds continued again on wednesday. Expect to find wind slabs at all elevations except the most sheltered terrain below treeline. The wind slabs vary considerably in depth, but range from 30 to 100cm deep. Human triggering of these slabs is likely. Forecasters also continue to monitor the Dec crust layer buried 100 to 150cm in the snowpack. This layer is capable of producing very large avalanches if it is initiated.

Terrain and Travel

  • Be careful with wind slabs, especially in steep, unsupported and/or convex terrain features.
  • Watch for areas of hard wind slab on alpine features.
  • Be aware of the potential for large avalanches due to the presence of a persistent slab.

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.