Kananaskis

Increasing winds and temperatures are promoting new windslabs in the alpine and treeline. Tread carefully in freshly wind loaded areas.

Tomorrow is Alberta Park's Winter Safety Day! Be at Burstall Pass tomorrow at 11am for a taste of all things involving safety and winter. Free Hotdogs!!

A few small slabs and loose dry avalanches were noted from a couple of days ago up to sz2, but nothing new as of today.

Winds picked up in all areas today, with the biggest impact being felt at treeline and above. Areas near, or on the divide saw significant wind transport. This has changed the distribution of windslabs to the more eastern aspects and increased their thickness to 5-20cm. With rising temperatures, these slabs will quickly build with all the available snow. Windslabs are resting on a variety of surfaces, but for the most part they can be summed up by being described as loose and facetted with a poor bond to the new windslabs. By tomorrow afternoon, windslabs could be touchy, and easy to trigger.

Temperatures are expected to continue their upward push. Today saw a significant warming trend at Burstall Pass with a daytime high of -6. That will remain the overnight low, with another jump to a tropical -3 for Saturday's high. With the rising temps, expect SW winds to also pick up to the moderate range at ridgetops. Flurries will continue all day and bring a few centimeters to help freshen up the slopes.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• In areas where deep persistent slabs may exist, avoid shallow or variable depth snowpacks and unsupported terrain features.
• Be carefull around freshly wind loaded features.