Avalanche forecast

Jasper

Mar 8 – 9, 2026Avalanche Canada
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Archived · expired 7 months ago

Avalanche danger

Tue
Wed
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
2 · Moderate
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Highlights

There may be rolling closures for avalanche control on the Icefields Parkway in the Parkers area on Sunday, March 8th. Check for updates on https://511.alberta.ca/

Watch out for wind slabs and avoid triggering the persistent weak layer on steep, open faces, particularly where the snowpack is shallow.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–2

    Recent strong southwest winds have created wind slabs at ridgeline and in lee features.

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1.5–3

    A 40-80cm slab sitting atop the Jan 24th weak layer of facets & surface hoar has produced several large avalanches in the region this week. This interface is not bonding well and will take time to settle and stabilize.

Confidence

Moderate

  • We are confident that there are persistent slabs in the snowpack, but uncertain about how likely they are to trigger.
  • We are uncertain about forecast precipitation amounts.

Avalanche Summary

Several large avalanches failing on the January 24 persistent weak layer have been reported in the past week:

On March 2nd, several size 2.5 persistent slab avalanches were observed.

On March 5th, a size 3.5 persistent slab avalanche was observed.

Snowpack Summary

Strong SW winds have redistributed snow over a variety of surfaces and formed wind slabs. A persistent weak layer of surface hoar and facets from January 24th is down 20-80 cm. Below, the snowpack is generally well consolidated facets to ground. Icefields snow depths range from 130-200 cm and snow depth in the Maligne area ranges from 60-140 cm.  

Weather Summary

Sunday

Cloudy with sunny periods and isolated flurries.

Precipitation: Trace.

Alpine temperature: High -7 °C.

Ridge wind west: 20 km/h gusting to 95 km/h.

Freezing level at valley bottom.

Monday

A mix of sun and cloud with isolated flurries.

Precipitation: Trace.

Alpine temperature: Low -17 °C, High -14 °C.

Ridge wind west: 15 km/h gusting to 40 km/h.

Freezing level at valley bottom.

Tuesday

Cloudy with sunny periods and isolated flurries.

Precipitation: Trace.

Alpine temperature: Low -17 °C, High -13 °C.

Ridge wind southwest: 15 km/h gusting to 45 km/h.

Freezing level at valley bottom.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Look for signs of instability: whumphing, hollow sounds, shooting cracks, and recent avalanches.
  • Fresh snow rests on a problematic persistent slab, don't let good riding lure you into complacency.

Regions covered