Avalanche forecast

Kananaskis

Mar 20 – 21, 2015Alberta Parks
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Archived · expired 12 years ago

Avalanche danger

Sun
Mon
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

A few cms of snow is forecast to fall overnight but little change is expected.  Windslabs along ridgelines and in crossloaded features will be the main concern. 

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible - Likely
    Size
    1–3
    Look for these features along ridgelines and crossloaded terrain features in the Alpine and isolated areas at TL.

  • Deep Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely - Possible
    Size
    3–5
    Thin steeper areas are still of a concern.

Confidence

Good

Weather Forecast

Saturdays forecast:Cloudy with scattered flurries.Accumulation: 4 cm of snow in Alpine areasAlpine temperature: High -1 C.Ridge wind west: 30 km/h gusting to 70 km/h.Freezing level: 2100 metres.

Avalanche Summary

No new observations from today.

Snowpack Summary

Overnight lows have been high enough lately to prevent a solid freeze below treeline. By early afternoon the valley bottom snowpack is near isothermal and higher elevations are seeing moist snow on solar aspects. At treeline the surface varies from sun/temperature crust on solar aspects to fresh windslabs on lee features. The recent snow has been blown into the low areas where there is a crust underneath. No avalanches have occurred on this interface yet, but its likely there are isolated pockets of touchy windslab in crossloaded features. The alpine is a mix of windslab and wind disturbed, but still soft snow. Winds were variable today so expect to see windslabs of varying density on all aspects.

Regions covered