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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 12th, 2016–Dec 13th, 2016

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

Regions

Jasper.

Climbers be aware of the potential for loose dry avalanches from steep, rocky terrain and gully features.

Weather Forecast

Alpine low of -25 overnight with a daytime high of -18. Thin low level cloud to persist for most of the day with clear skies above. Moderate Northwest winds until Wednesday evening. Slight warming trend toward the end of the week, with mainly clear skies.

Snowpack Summary

Ongoing moderate Northwest winds redistributing cold snow, soft slab formation possible on lee features. Arctic cold temps have penetrated the shallow snowpack and are promoting facetting. Nov12 crust down 45 to 90cm and found between 2100-2600m on all aspects.

Avalanche Summary

Numerous loose dry avalanches on Westerly aspects up to Size 2 in Alpine terrain observed along the Icefields Parkway today. Recent shift of winds to the Northwest seem to have been the trigger for these events.

Confidence

Problems

Loose Dry

Loose Dry avalanches are the release of dry unconsolidated snow and typically occur within layers of soft snow near the surface of the snowpack. These avalanches start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-dry avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs.

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.