Maligne Lake Road and the Icefields Parkways are both currently closed. The Icefields Parkway could open from Jasper to Parker Ridge late Thursday morning. Check Alberta 511 for updates. This new snow will take time to settle so keep it conservative.
We can expect storm slabs in the trees and in non wind affected tree line locations. In the alpine with strong SW winds we can expect wind slabs to be forming.
The average 1 meter snowpack has a crust near the ground surrounded by weakening large grain facets. This is a layer to watch as our neighbors are experiencing activity on it.
Thursday: A mix of sun and cloud.
Alpine temperature: High -9 C.
Ridge wind west: 20 km/h gusting to 50 km/h.
Freezing level at valley bottom.
Friday: Cloudy with sunny periods and isolated flurries.
Precipitation: Trace.
Alpine temperature: Low -16 C, High -13 C.
Mostly light ridge wind occasionally gusting to 35 km/h.
Freezing level at valley bottom.
About 30 cm of storm snow fell in the last 24hrs in the Parker Ridge area. About 20cm of new snow around Maligne Lake. Freezing level is about 2100m with the snow line around 1200m. The mid-pack is around 80cm thick above a thin crust near the ground in some locations. Snowpack is shrinking rapidly at lower elevations.
Multiple, natural wet loose avalanches up to Size 2 observed on the Icefields Parkway early in the storm. We can expect more have run since the storm started.
