Kananaskis

A SPAW is in effect for the region.

Surface conditions are hiding a nasty persistent layer that's down about 60cm and guilty of causing many large avalanches. Don't try and outsmart the snowpack, instead avoid avalanche terrain altogether.

Natural activity continued yesterday afternoon with a sizeable 2.5 on the south aspect of CEGNF's peak (aka north peak of Mt. Murray).

Not a lot of positive change in the past day or so. The recent storm snow has continued to settle and become quite stiff, which gives the illusion of improvement. In reality, this stiffening layer is increasing the avalanche hazard by creating wider propagations while potentially increasing the user's comfort with what seems like a stable snowpack. Do not trust the snow! The Jan 30th facet/depth hoar layer is remarkably poor with large grains that are acting as ball bearings. It is down 40-70cm in most areas. Tests on this layer and interface have been oddly consistent with catastrophic failures under moderate loads. In technical terms: compression tests reliably fail in the hard range with sudden collapses in the Jan 30th layer.

Flurries will continue to blow through the region tonight and tomorrow. They'll offer up only a few centimeters, but enough to keep the snowpack fresh. South west valley bottom winds will be light, but gusty most of the day. Upper level winds will increase as the day goes on. Daytime high of -3 with moments of sunshine from time to time.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Avoid exposure to overhead avalanche terrain; avalanches may run surprisingly far.
• Keep in mind that human triggering may persist as natural avalanches taper off.
• Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind-affected terrain.