Avalanche Forecast
North and eastern parts of the Jasper bulletin region will continue to see less precipitation than the Icefields area, but strong winds will keep the avalanche hazard elevated in the Alpine.
Confidence
Moderate
Avalanche Summary
One large avalanche occurred in the alpine on an east facing slope in the Churchill range on Wednesday.
Don't forget to post avalanche observations to the MIN.
Snowpack Summary
Up to 7cm of new snow out of the recent storm. Previous moderate to strong southwest wind stripped snow in exposed alpine features creating wind slab in the alpine and into exposed tree line. A weak melt freeze crust facet combo down 25cm below 2100m is showing sudden collapse results in snow pit tests. Generally, the bottom of the snowpack is weak facets and depth hoar. The snowpack ranges from 50 to 120cm.
Weather Summary
Strong winds will continue as a system moves through Thursday night into Friday. Minimal snow is expected in this region.
Detailed weather forecasts from Avalanche Canada: https://avalanche.ca/weather/forecast
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 snow pack is inherently weak with well developed Facets and Depth Hoar. Avalanches initiating in the upper snowpack are likely to step down to this layer and gain significant mass.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Possible
Expected Size: 2 - 3
Wind Slabs
Wind slabs are present with the recent snow in the alpine and exposed tree line features. Watch for wind slab development on top of the Jan 27th melt freeze crust.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Likely
Expected Size: 1 - 2