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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 28th, 2022–Mar 1st, 2022

Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Alpine
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Alpine
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Regions

Kananaskis.

Warm temps, wind and snowfall are creating reactive windslabs in the Alpine and open TL features, identify if there is wind effect before stepping in to terrain

Confidence

Moderate -

Weather Forecast

Nice warm temps (-6) and some snowfall are helping refresh the tenure. Sunday night saw 6cm on the spray with moderate wind. 

Tuesday should be the same, More snow (up to 10cm) and Moderate SW winds.

Something to keep in mind is the rising freezing levels to 2000m. Spray road is around 1850m.

Avalanche Summary

Forecasters out in Burstall pass today were able to get wind slabs moving in open TL features. Although not very big, The windslab problem is there and it is becoming more likely with increasing snow, wind and Warm temps.

Snowpack Summary

Continuous SW winds continue to redistribute the previous and new snow available for transport. Forecasters found a variety of windslabs in open TL features today. This sits on top of the Feb 19th interface, sun crusts on solar aspects and hard wind slabs everywhere else. This layer is perfect for a sliding layer. watch for reactivity as the load increases.

Terrain and Travel

  • Avoid lee and cross-loaded slopes at and above treeline.
  • Be alert to conditions that change with elevation and wind exposure.
  • Wind slabs may be poorly bonded to the underlying crust.

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.