Avalanche forecast

Kananaskis

Mar 13 – 14, 2018Alberta Parks
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Archived · expired 9 years ago

Avalanche danger

Thu
Fri
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
2 · Moderate
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Highlights

If solar input is stronger than expected, recognize that the danger elevation will rise proportionally.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1.5–2.5
    Most prominent along lee features.

  • Loose Wet

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    1–2
    Solar aspects will have a crust in the morning. The cloud may prevent this from breaking down at higher elevations.

  • Deep Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely
    Size
    2–3.5
    Cornices could start to fail if they see a lot of sun. These kinds of large triggers could cause the deep layers to fail.

Confidence

High -

Weather Forecast

Temps will be slightly cooler tomorrow. Freezing levels will be around 2400m. There will also be more cloud tomorrow, which should help with the moist snow situation. Winds will continue to be light. No precip is expected.

Avalanche Summary

Control runs today saw small slabs in the alpine that eventually entrained warm snow as they crept downhill. There was also a high alpine windslab avalanche noted in the Goat range. It was a sz2, E asp, 2800m start elevation.

Snowpack Summary

Another day of warm temps and strong solar input have helped settle the snowpack as a whole. Any steep, solar slope had moist snow by early afternoon and by mid afternoon some loose wet activity was noted. The polar aspects haven't felt the warm temps as much. The snow remains cold, and the layering structure that we're used to is still intact. At alpine & treeline elevations, the windslabs still haven't had enough heat to bond together.

Regions covered