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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 3rd, 2020–Dec 4th, 2020

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

Regions

Jasper.

Highly wind effected snowpack in the alpine and exposed treeline make finding soft turns difficult but the views are world class.

Weather Forecast

Friday will bring cooling temperatures with ridgetop winds becoming light from the west. High pressure with mild temperatures remaining in place through the weekend with freezing level reaching 2200m Saturday.

Snowpack Summary

Previous winds have stripped the snow from all fetch in the alpine and open tree line creating slabs and crossloading gullies and depressions. Soft snow can still be found in specific sheltered locations at tree line and below. Snow depth at tree line is around 90cm with the Nov 4 crust down 50cm. Solar crust present steep SW terrain.

Avalanche Summary

Evidence of avalanche cycle from yesterday's temp inversion and solar input on specific steep and extreme SW alpine terrain - moist loose and slab up to size 2.

Confidence

Freezing levels are uncertain

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.