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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 29th, 2016–Mar 1st, 2016

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

Snow and wind will arrive late tomorrow afternoon. Expect slabs to build quickly due to the warming air temps and relatively warm snow temps. Last night helped to refresh the skiing with 10-15cm of new snow.

Confidence

High

Weather Forecast

A few flurries are expected tomorrow. With any luck, we'll get 6cm or so out of them. The temps will be relatively warm and max out at -2 in the low alpine. The winds will be mostly light tonight and tomorrow, but there are gusts up to 50km/hr expected for both days.

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches noted today.

Snowpack Summary

10-15 cm's of new snow fell last night. The winds that accompanied the snow have created new storm slabs at treeline and alpine elevations. These slabs are concentrated on east to south aspects and near ridges. The underlying surface for this new snow will be a variety of crusts on low elevations, crusts on south aspects, and windslabs in the alpine. At all elevations, the concerning layers from last week have healed up well making for a relatively strong snowpack. 

Problems

Storm Slabs

Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-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.

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.