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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 17th, 2013–Dec 18th, 2013

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, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Kananaskis.

Strong to extreme winds are expected to continue - if forecasted snowfall amounts are greater than currently forecasted we can look forward to a spike in Avalanche Danger into the CONSIDERABLE range. Overall ski conditions remain suspect!

Confidence

Fair - Forecast snowfall amounts are uncertain on Wednesday

Weather Forecast

Snowfall expected by Tuesday AM did not materialize and forecasted amounts are now less than 10cm over the next 24 hours. A strong westerly flow is expected to continue and rapid redistribution of storm snow onto lee aspects is expected. Even small amounts of new snow coupled with winds action will make recently formed slabs more "touchy" so give careful consideration to the presence of new slabs in the upper elevation zones.

Avalanche Summary

No new observed or reported.

Snowpack Summary

Only trace amounts of new snow over past 24 hours. Windward features are stripped completely bare by intense westerly flow. Some thin storm slabs formed in previous 48-72 hours may be sensitive to triggering in specific features such as immediate lees and cross-loaded gullies.

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.

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.