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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 1st, 2020–Feb 2nd, 2020

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

Regions

Kananaskis.

A cooling trend will tighten up low elevation snowpacks. The alpine on the other hand will take some time to settle and bond the various layers. Choose conservative terrain on Sunday and avoid overhead exposure. 

Confidence

Moderate -

Weather Forecast

Snow is expected to stop by 8pm. So far we've had 20cm in the alpine with a few more coming this evening. Winds will fade as the warm front passes and a cold front settles in its wake. The winds will drop to 10-20km from the SW by tomorrow morning. The temperatures will fall to -15c tonight and rise to -9 for a day time high.

Avalanche Summary

We saw some rain induced loose wet avalanches up to sz2 this morning. 

Poor visibility has prevented a good look around, but we suspect a natural cycle up to sz2.5 on all aspects is happening this afternoon.

Snowpack Summary

Its been another varied and somewhat exciting storm. Freezing levels were quite high which made for rain soaked snow in the Bow Valley and Hwy 40 corridors. This will refreeze tonight making for a new crust below 2100m. Where we had snow and calm winds a mild storm slab exists. In wind prone areas, there in another new windslab for our collection. The question is the Feb 1st interface. Its too soon to tell for sure, but expect a poor bond. The weak bottom layers are more touchy given the new load and/or rain weakened midpack. 

Terrain and Travel

  • Continue to make conservative terrain choices while the storm snow settles and stabilizes.

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.

Deep Persistent Slabs

Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.