Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 30th, 2024–Jan 31st, 2024

Alpine

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Treeline

Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Alpine

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Alpine

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Regions

Kananaskis, Bow Valley, Highwood Pass, North 40, Spray - KLakes.

No freeze is expected overnight. The heat has made the snowpack unstable and ski quality extremely poor. Ice climbers this is the time to avoid gully features where the consequences of even a small wet loose slide can be large.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

Numerous loose wet avalanches up to sz 2 and a few deep persistent avalanche up to sz 2.5 have been observed over the past few days. The deep avalanches mainly occurred on N and E aspects initiating in alpine terrain.

Snowpack Summary

Warm temps are making the snowpack isothermal in lower elevation areas and making the top 10-30cm moist at treeline and above. This rapid settlement is overloading the weak basal facets in some areas triggering full depth avalanches. Travel in avalanche terrain is not recommended at this time.

On a positive side when it does get cold again, the snowpack will be fairly supportive! Dig out your ski crampons for February!

Weather Summary

Another warm day in store with no overnight freeze expected expected and freezing levels on Wednesday around 2800m. The sky will be sunny also so pay attention to aspect that you are on/under. Day time highs will be around +4 at treeline.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

Back off if you encounter whumpfing, hollow sounds, or shooting cracks.
In areas where deep persistent slabs may exist, avoid shallow or variable depth snowpacks and unsupported terrain features.
Watch for unstable snow on specific terrain features, especially when the snow is moist or wet.

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.

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.

Deep Persistent Slabs

Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.