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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 7th, 2020–Dec 8th, 2020

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

Regions

Kananaskis.

Expect to see some snow on Tuesday along with westerly winds.

Confidence

Moderate -

Weather Forecast

Finally, I can use the "SNOW" word. Flurries are expected to start in the early hours of Tuesday morning with 10-15cm expected by evening. Let's wait and see which weather model holds true. Winds are expected to be strong SW Tuesday morning and moderate in the afternoon. Expect a high of -5c in the Alpine.  

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanche activity observed or reported.

Snowpack Summary

If the amount of snow is more than forecast or comes earlier with the winds, be mindful of fresh wind slabs.

Alpine areas have been heavily affected by the past week of strong winds and hard wind slabs are widespread at tree line and above. Ridges and ribs have been previously stripped free of snow while lee and cross-loaded terrain have deep deposits of previous wind loaded snow. The November crust is down 30-100cm and is still producing anywhere from moderate to no results. Faceting has started near the Nov. crust and is something that will be followed closely as more load gets deposited. Alpine temperatures reached near +2c on Monday. Expect some surface crusts from this warming event or from last week's warming, especially on solar aspects.

Terrain and Travel

  • Fresh wind slabs will likely form throughout the day, diligently watch for changing conditions.
  • Approach lee and cross-loaded slopes with caution.
  • Watch for areas of hard wind slab on alpine features.

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.