Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Brazeau, Churchill, Cirrus-Wilson, Fryatt, Icefields, Jasper, Maligne, Marmot, Miette Lake, Pyramid.
We will get one more weak overnight freeze on Thursday night before the freezing levels skyrocket Friday afternoon. Watch out for pockets of wind slab as convective flurries can drop vastly different amounts of snow from valley to valley.
Confidence
Moderate
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches were reported and no road patrol on the Icefields Parkway today.
Post avalanche observations to the MIN.
Snowpack Summary
Sun crusts on solar aspects into the alpine and a melt-freeze crust at tree line and below on all aspects. Small wind slabs in the alpine from moderate to strong SW winds with 2-5cm of recent snow available for transport. A layer of sun crust or facets lingers in the mid-pack. The main concern is the depth hoar and basal facets at the bottom causing our deep persistent slab problem.
Weather Summary
Thursday
Sunny with cloudy periods
Alpine temperature: High 1 C
Ridge wind west: 10-25 km/h
Freezing level 2400m
Friday
Sunny with cloudy periods
Alpine temperature: Low -1 C
Ridge wind west: 10-20 km/h
Freezing level 3200 m
Saturday
Mix of sun and cloud
Alpine temperature: Low 4 C
Ridge wind southwest: 10 km/h
Freezing level 3500 m
Terrain and Travel Advice
- In areas where deep persistent slabs may exist, avoid shallow or variable depth snowpacks and unsupported terrain features.
Avalanche Problems
Deep Persistent Slabs
The bottom of the snowpack is inherently weak with well-developed Facets and Depth Hoar. The next few days could see this problem moving into the reactive category with dramatically rising freezing levels.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Possible
Expected Size: 2 - 4
Loose Wet
Warming temperatures will continue to produce wet loose avalanches.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: All elevations.
Likelihood: Likely
Expected Size: 1 - 2
Wind Slabs
Moderate to strong south west winds and new snow from convective activity will make new wind slabs.
Aspects: North, North East, East, North West.
Elevations: Alpine.
Likelihood: Possible - Likely
Expected Size: 1 - 2