Dashboard Regions Weather Stations Radar Alerts Glossary
Contact About
Log In

Register for an account and never miss a forecast again!

Register

Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 20th, 2021–Mar 21st, 2021

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

Regions

Kananaskis.

Up to 15cm of new snow is helping out the skiing. Evaluate the bond with the new snow and the underlying surface. If the sun comes out, expect stability to deteriorate quickly. Gotta love spring! Sometimes three seasons in one day!

Confidence

High -

Weather Forecast

Light snow is forecast to continue over the next 24hrs with only minor accumulations expected. Winds will continue out of the SW with gusts into the moderate range on Sunday. Cloudy conditions are also expected with daytime highs around -3C.

Avalanche Summary

Numerous loose dry sluffs up to sz 1.5 from steep unskiable terrain.  

Snowpack Summary

10-15cm of new snow has fallen over the past 36hrs with wind affect only in alpine areas. This new snow is very low density and sluffing easily in steeper terrain. Especially in areas where it is overlying the previous melt freeze crust. Two main things to be aware of are new windslabs in the upper snowpack in alpine areas and sluffing on anywhere this new snow is overlying the temperature crust. As with spring, the weather can change quickly so be aware that if the sun does come out, stability will quickly deteriorate and natural avalanche activity will initiate. Keep a keen eye trained on the local weather.  

Terrain and Travel

  • Wind slabs may be poorly bonded to the underlying crust.
  • Closely monitor how the new snow is bonding to the crust.
  • Loose avalanches may start small but they can grow and push you into dangerous terrain.
  • Be carefull with sluffing in steep terrain, especially above cliffs and terrain traps.

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.