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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 22nd, 2018–Jan 23rd, 2018

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

Regions

Jasper.

Recent storm snow has made for good skiing at and above treeline in sheltered locations.

Weather Forecast

A strong SW flow with a series of low pressure storm cells tracking west from BC will give unsettled weather with light snow until later in the week. Tuesday: Cloudy with sunny periods/isolated flurries. Precip: 4cm. Alpine Low -13°C, High -8°C. Ridge wind moderate SW. Wednesday: Snow flurries, 9cm. Alpine temp: Low -8°C, High -4°C.

Snowpack Summary

Small  amounts of new snow this week continue to add windslab above treeline. Early January surface hoar down 35cm, mid December facets down 50cm, and basal facets 20cm above ground are the main weak layers in the snowpack. Field teams had easy shear failures today on a SE open slope at treeline in the Icefields area down both 35cm and 50cm.

Avalanche Summary

Limited visibility with no new notable avalanche observations.

Confidence

Due to the number of field observations on Monday

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.

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.

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.