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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Nov 25th, 2019–Nov 26th, 2019

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

Regions

Kananaskis.

Lots of fresh wind slabs out there on a variety of aspects. Continuously evaluate the snowpack and your terrain choices.

Confidence

Moderate -

Weather Forecast

Tuesday will bring light northerly winds, cool temps (near -17) and light flurries. Accumulations of snow should be in the 5 to 10cm range by late Wednesday.

Avalanche Summary

Nothing new observed or reported today, but observations were limited.

Snowpack Summary

Up to 5cm of new snow in the past 24 hours. This has been redistributed by moderate to strong winds in the past 24 hours, with some extreme northerly winds on Sunday. Many Alpine areas are stripped completely bare of snow, with the immediate lee side of ridges seeing deep wind deposited snow. Where there is snow on the ground expect to find wind slabs in both the Alpine and Treeline elevation bands. Where these wind slabs sit on the November crust (down 30 to 50cm and occasionally deeper), the slabs will be more sensitive to human triggering. Watch for some "reverse wind loading" due to the recent northerly winds. The October crust/facet layer sits just above the ground, and though this is nothing new to us in the eastern Rockies, it will be a layer to watch in the long term.

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.