Avalanche forecast

Jasper

Apr 3 – 4, 2018Parks Canada

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Archived · expired 8 years ago

Avalanche danger

Thu

Fri

Alpine

2 · Moderate

Treeline

1 · Low

Below

1 · Low

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Highlights

Good riding on dry snow for the time being. Persistent instabilities, will persist for the remainder of the season.

Avalanche problems

Wind Slabs
N
NE
E
SE
S
SW
W
NW
Alpine
Treeline
Below treeline
Likelihood
Unlikely - Possible
Size
1–2.5
In most cases this interface presents as a manageable surface instability and is expected to go dormant pretty quickly. Pay close attention to any fellow travelers above and/or below you as enter fresh terrain.
Cornices
N
NE
E
SE
S
SW
W
NW
Alpine
Treeline
Below treeline
Likelihood
Unlikely - Possible
Size
1.5–3
Cornices are growing with fresh snow additions. Several failures were noted, in most cases triggering a slab below.
Persistent Slabs
N
NE
E
SE
S
SW
W
NW
Alpine
Treeline
Below treeline
Likelihood
Unlikely - Possible
Size
1–2.5
Wind slabs sit on a hard melt-freeze crust on solar aspects, and facets on polar aspects. Assess the bond at these interfaces carefully before committing to to a slope.

Weather Forecast

"La Nina" spring continuing. A slow shift into 'spring-like' weather for the Rockies. Gradually, the NW flow is being replaced with a western zonal flow. This will eventually push the arctic air out, but temperatures and freezing levels are not expected to rise above valley bottom before Friday. Light winds with a trace of precip for the region.

Snowpack Summary

A variety of slab conditions exist on most aspects at treeline and above. 10-20cm of recent storm snow has created a settled new wind slab. This slab can be up to 30cm thick . Below this, older slabs up to 60cm thick sit on a sun-crust on solar aspects and facets on polar aspects. Below treeline the snow is shallow.

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches reported or observed.

Confidence

Due to the number of field observations

Regions covered

Jasper