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

Mar 3rd, 2016–Mar 4th, 2016

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

Regions

Jasper.

Weather Forecast

Light scattered flurries for the next couple of days, increasing in intensity by the weekend, with amounts up to 10cm for Saturday. Winds light to moderate from the Southwest and freezing levels creeping up to treeline by Saturday. Cooler temperatures starting on Sunday.

Snowpack Summary

Weak crust on S through W aspects. Wind slab on lee aspects from previous SW winds and persistent slab in open areas at tree line. Poor travel conditions below tree line due to weak facetted snowpack. The Jan 28 SH/FC layer down 40-80cm remains a concern but is sporadically distributed.

Avalanche Summary

Several reports of remotely triggered slab avalanches in the alpine in wind loaded areas up to size 2 over the past 48 hours. These slides went on old snow and are especially prevalent in areas that have not seen skier traffic this winter.

Confidence

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.

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.