Dashboard Regions Weather Stations Radar Alerts Glossary
Contact About
Log In

Register for an account and never miss a forecast again!

Register

Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 19th, 2021–Mar 20th, 2021

Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Jasper.

With cooling trend and small amounts of precipitation in the forecast we are facing generally safe avalanche conditions.Be mindful of the potential for low probability high consequence scenario.

Weather Forecast

Saturday: Cloudy with sunny periods and isolated flurries. Accumulation: 4 cm. Alpine: High -6 °C. Ridge wind west: 20 km/h gusting to 55 km/h. Freezing level: 1400 metres.Sunday: Cloudy with sunny periods and isolated flurries. Precipitation: Trace. Alpine: High -9 °C. Ridge wind southwest: 15 km/h. Freezing level at valley bottom.

Snowpack Summary

Up to 5cm of new snow becoming moist on solar aspects and creating thin slabs in ALP lees. Warm temps and high solar input have created sun crust on solar aspects TL and below. Snowpack becoming isothermal 1700m and below on all aspects. Generally strong mid-pack with exception in shallow areas.

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanche activity observed or reported today, however, there have been reports of sporadic large avalanches in isolated ALP features in the last couple weeks. These slides are believed to be triggered by large cornice failures and ran in heavily wind loaded features with wide propagation. Beware of low probability, high consequence scenario

Confidence

Problems

Loose Wet

Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.

Persistent Slabs

Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.

Cornices

Cornice Fall is the release of an overhanging mass of snow that forms as the wind moves snow over a sharp terrain feature, such as a ridge, and deposits snow on the downwind (leeward) side. Cornices range in size from small wind drifts of soft snow to large overhangs of hard snow that are 30 feet (10 meters) or taller. They can break off the terrain suddenly and pull back onto the ridge top and catch people by surprise even on the flat ground above the slope. Even small cornices can have enough mass to be destructive and deadly. Cornice Fall can entrain loose surface snow or trigger slab avalanches.