Kananaskis

Gusty and shifting wind patters tomorrow will make it tough to travel with confidence. Sheltered areas on north an west aspects are the best bet for soft snow.

Several old avalanches were noted today. A mid storm failure in the tent ridge area triggered the basal layers. The light was poor, but it may have been a sz3. In other areas, there were more recent alpine windslabs that failed in the past 24 hours. These were up to sz2, maybe 2.5.

Sustained easterly winds have taken our storm snow and left us with a combo of wind effected snow and a disturbed surface in many areas. Low elevation sheltered (north & north west) aspects have likely escaped the windy wrath of this upslope/easterly weather pattern. We are concerned about reactive windslabs at treeline and expect those slabs could easily produce a size 2 avalanche. The alpine has its own set of problems. The most concerning is still the deep persistent layer which has become reactive this past week. Slightly less worrisome, is the wind slab problem. These are on all aspects and are still in the human triggering realm.

Good news everyone! It looks like the cold air will start to push out overnight tonight. It's almost like it is scheduled. At midnight the winds will start to shift to a more typical westerly flow. Tonight's low is -33, but tomorrow's high will be -18 with very little cooling Friday night. As the winds flop around expect strong gusts and likely a few flurries tomorrow. No significant snow, just a few flakes.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind affected terrain.
• Be aware of the potential for surprisingly large avalanches due to deeply buried weak layers.
• Avoid shallow, rocky areas where the snowpack transitions from thick to thin.