Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 6th, 2024–Apr 7th, 2024

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Alpine

Below Threshold.

Treeline

Below Threshold.

Below Treeline

Below Threshold.

Regions

Jasper, Brazeau, Churchill, Cirrus-Wilson, Fryatt, Icefields, Maligne, Marmot, Miette Lake, Pyramid.

Avalanche hazard rating is for the heat of the day.Weather forecasts have been underestimating the freezing levels. Thin low cloud coverage contributes to the warming of the snowpack through "Greenhouse Effect", take that into account when planning your return time and exposure to overhead hazards.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

Loose wet natural avalanche activity observed around the Icefields Parkway on solar aspects at tree line and below in the afternoon. One natural wind slab observed in north facing steep alpine feature off of Destiny ridge on Friday.

Snowpack Summary

5-10cm of soft snow can still be found in the shaded alpine. Solar aspects have multiple crusts within the upper 30 cm. A total of 20-40cm of snow now sits over the March 19th crust which is present everywhere except North aspects above 1900m. The Feb 3rd crust interface is down 30-90cm. Basal depth hoar and facets make up the bottom of the snowpack. HS ranges from 560 to 150cm.

Weather Summary

Sunday: Cloudy with sunny periods and isolated flurries. Precipitation: Trace. Alpine temp: Low -7 °C, High -4 °C. Ridge wind west: 15-30 km/h. Freezing level: 1800 m. Mountain Weather Forecast is available @ Avalanche Canada https://avalanche.ca/weather/forecast

Terrain and Travel Advice

Be carefull around freshly wind loaded features.
Avoid shallow, rocky areas where the snowpack transitions from thick to thin.
Avoid exposure to steep sun exposed slopes.

Problems

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.

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.

Wind Slabs

Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.