Increasing winds Tuesday afternoon could be all it takes for us to see more large Deep Persistent Slab avalanches occur.
Make conservative terrain choices and avoid overhead hazard.
Ongoing moderate to strong transport from variable directions is redistributing new snow from the past week, resulting in significant loading (and reloading) of lee features across a range of aspects.
There have been numerous large avalanches up to size 4 in Jasper this past week. This problem encompasses multiple weak layers of facets, crusts, and basal facets from November and December.
Numerous large, naturally triggered, Deep Persistent Slab avalanches have been observed in the past week throughout the region.
The local ski resort has also been reporting Deep Persistent Slab avalanches triggered by explosives.
Icefields Parkway: About 50 cm of new snow fell last week, with total snow depths of 160–190 cm at TL. The upper snowpack is made up of well-consolidated storm snow from the past two weeks. A Dec facet layer sits ~60 cm above the ground, transitioning to an early-November faceting crust near the base.
Maligne Lake area: Snow depth at TL averages ~1 m and is less consolidated. The Dec facet layer is ~50 cm above the ground and closer to surface.
Widespread wind effect in all regions.
Tuesday
Cloudy with sunny periods.
Precipitation: Nil.
Alpine temperature: High -5 °C.
Ridge wind southwest: 15 km/h.
Freezing level at valley bottom.
WednesdayMainly cloudy with isolated flurries.
Precipitation: Trace.
Alpine temperature: Low -8 °C, High -5 °C.
Ridge wind southwest: 15 km/h.
Freezing level at valley bottom.
ThursdayA mix of sun and cloud.
Precipitation: Nil.
Alpine temperature: Low -8 °C, High -5 °C.
Ridge wind southwest: 15 km/h.
Freezing level at valley bottom.
