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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 15th, 2021–Mar 16th, 2021

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.

Remember that the avalanche hazard will increase rapidly with daytime heating. Timing and aspect will play a big part in your trip planning.

Confidence

High -

Weather Forecast

Tuesday morning will start out with a temperature of -7c with cloudy skies. By noon, expect the sun to come out with the temperature rising to -1c in the alpine. Winds are forecast at 15-30km/hr from the SW with a freezing level of 2200m. 

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches have been observed.

Snowpack Summary

With the heat from this last weekend, all solar aspects have melted during the day and frozen at night. With these kind of Spring conditions, timing and aspect is everything. The alpine appears to be wind affected except for sheltered north aspects. On non-solar aspects there are still some buried wind slabs in the upper 60 of the snowpack that are worth investigating before committing to bigger terrain. Be alert on the changing snow conditions under your skis. There are plenty of big cornices out there so take the time to plan your trip to avoid them.

Terrain and Travel

  • Avoid sun exposed slopes when the solar radiation is strong, especially if snow is moist or wet
  • Avoid rock outcroppings, convexities, and anywhere the snowpack is thin and/or variable.
  • Be alert to conditions that change with elevation and sun exposure.
  • Cornices become weak with daytime heating.

Problems

Loose Wet

Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.

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.