Avalanche forecast

Kananaskis

Feb 2 – 3, 2020Avalanche Canada
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Avalanche danger

Tue
Wed
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
3 · Considerable
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Highlights

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. 

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely - Very Likely
    Size
    1.5–2.5

    This is a combination of fresh slabs, and older buried slabs fro the last week.

  • Storm Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    1–2

  • Deep Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible - Likely
    Size
    2.5–3.5

    The new load will stress this layer. It will be more prone to avalanches for a day or two. Let it settle and avoid exposure to big terrain.

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.

Regions covered