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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 30th, 2020–Dec 31st, 2020

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, 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, human triggered possible.

Regions

Jasper.

Light precip and SW winds over the next two days as we limp into the New Year.

Look for a bit of a stormy refresh coming through the weekend.

Weather Forecast

Tonight, expecting some isolated flurries, with little accumulation. Alpine temperature: Low -11 C, with light SW winds.

Thursday: Cloudy with sunny periods and isolated flurries and trace accumulations. High of -8 C. Light SW winds at ridgetop.

Snowpack Summary

Varied surface conditions with aspect and geographic location. 15-25cm of un-compacted snow over a firm mid-pack with facets and depth hoar lingering near the ground. Mid-December persistent layers, including SH, and SH/FC combos can be found down 25-40cm but, only in isolated and sheltered locations, and almost exclusively in the Icefields region.

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches observed or reported today. Make your field trip observations count! Share them with the local outdoor adventure community on the Mountain Information Network from Avalanche Canada.

Confidence

Intensity of incoming weather systems is uncertain on Friday

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.

Deep Persistent Slabs

Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.