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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 19th, 2013–Dec 20th, 2013

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

Regions

Jasper.

Early season conditions persist. Pay attention to wind loaded features and watch for hazards lurking below the surface.

Weather Forecast

Winds as switching to southerly and bring light snow across the area for the next couple days. Temperatures will be seasonal, between -10 and -20.

Snowpack Summary

Wind transport has been evident at alpine ridge crests. Any windslab development on lee terrain features will be over-lie extremely weak basal layers.

Avalanche Summary

A size 2.5 slab occurred today at 2500m on a south easterly slope near the Whirlpool drainage. From a distance this,  slab looked  like a thin windslab over basal facets and ran to ground.  While there is variable snow distribution on the landscape, there is still potential for slab avalanches to occur in isolated terrain.

Confidence

Intensity of incoming weather systems is 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.