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

Nov 24th, 2012–Nov 25th, 2012

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

Regions

Jasper.

Good skiing can be found in sheltered areas, but careful snowpack evaluation is necessary to determine if there are previous wind slabs buried under the new snow.

Weather Forecast

Scattered light precipitation expected through the weekend with light westerly winds. Freezing levels to stay low and temps consistent in the -5 to -10 range.

Snowpack Summary

10cm in the past 24 hours brings the 5 day total to over 50cm at treeline elevation. This is a significant load on the November snowpack and may increase the likelihood of triggering persistent slabs that are buried under storm snow.  New windslabs can be found on exposed Northerly aspects.

Avalanche Summary

Marmot Basin reported several new natural slab avalanches on North aspects above 2200m. These slabs were roughly 10-30cm thick and in the size 1-2.5 range.

Confidence

Due to the number of field observations

Problems

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.

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.