Persistent Slabs
N
NE
E
SE
S
SW
W
NW
- Alpine
- Treeline
- Below treeline
- Likelihood
- Likely
- Size
- 1.5–3
Continued strong winds are creating more dense slabs, especially in the Alpine and open areas at Treeline. Human triggering is very likely.
Avalanche forecast
View on mapKananaskis
Dec 23 – 24, 2018Alberta Parks
Archived · expired 8 years ago
Avalanche danger
Tue
Wed
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
2 · Moderate
Highlights
A large scale natural avalanche cycle is starting to taper off. However, the snowpack is primed for human triggering. Choose conservative terrain.
Avalanche problems
Deep Persistent Slabs
NNEESESSWWNW- Alpine
- Treeline
- Below treeline
- Likelihood
- Unlikely - Possible
- Size
- 1.5–3
Some of the recent larger avalanches may have stepped down to this layer.
Confidence
High.
Weather Forecast
Monday will be a mix of sun and cloud with very light flurries in the morning. Temperatures in the Alpine should rise to -8°c with generally light winds. Not too much snow is expected for Christmas.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches observed today, but there is evidence of a large recent avalanche cycle up to size 3 primarily on East and North aspects over the past few days. Wide propagations have been observed and some slides have reached the valley bottoms.
Snowpack Summary
Strong westerly winds have formed widespread wind slabs in the Alpine and at Treeline, with many slabs up to 120cm thick. The Dec 10th interface of surface hoar and/or facets is the most active layer at the moment, and has been the failure plane for numerous recent avalanches. Look for this layer down 50 to 100+cm in the snowpack. The basal layers remain weak, and although this is concerning there hasn't been as much avalanche activity stepping down to the base of the snowpack in recent days.