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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 29th, 2019–Apr 30th, 2019

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.

Regions

Jasper.

Time to reapply that cold snow wax!  Winter lingers on in Jasper, with buried crusts being the only reminder of warm spring days.

Weather Forecast

Continued cool weather & scattered flurries.  Change arrives with a front Wednesday.

Tuesday: Mainly cloudy, treeline low -9, high -5, light N winds, freezing level 1400m. 

Wednesday:  Cloud, snowfall developing.  Freezing level 1700m, treeline high -4, light winds.

Snowfall continues, with around 30cm forecast by the weekend.

Snowpack Summary

15cm storm snow from early in the weekend was reverse loaded by Strong N-NE winds, and overlies several crusts/facet layers in the upper snowpack. Stubborn windslabs can be expected on unusual aspects in the alpine, and in exposed treeline terrain. A faceted midpack layer on shady alpine slopes remains a concern.

Avalanche Summary

No patrol Monday, no avalanches reported. On Sunday, one recent size 2.5 Persistent slab was observed in the Maligne Range. This was on an East aspect, in convex alpine terrain. Meanwhile, no new activity was noted on an icefields parkway road patrol.

Confidence

Due to the number of field observations

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.