Avalanche forecast

Jasper

Apr 18 – 19, 2017Parks Canada
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Archived · expired 9 years ago

Avalanche danger

Thu
Fri
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
2 · Moderate
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Highlights

Rising freezing level and prolonged solar radiation will increase the avalanche hazard on solar aspects at all elevations.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–3
    Moderate SW winds has built windslab on alpine lee slopes. If triggered, these could step down to the deep persistent slab resulting in large avalanches.

  • Cornices

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely - Possible
    Size
    2–3
    There are some very large cornices out there, give them a wide berth. Cornice failure is hard to predict but is more likely with inputs like solar radiation, high freezing levels and wind-loading.

  • Deep Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely - Possible
    Size
    2–4
    The deep instability could be triggered by large loads such as a cornice failure or a surface avalanche. Human triggering is most likely from shallow spots or on steep unsupported slopes.

Weather Forecast

Mix of sun and cloud with 5cm of snow by Wednesday morning. Freezing level rising to 1900m with an alpine high of -4 and 20-30km/hr southwest winds.

Snowpack Summary

5cm of snow within the past 24hrs with moderate SW winds building slab on lee alpine ridge lines. Melt freeze crust up to 2000m. Dryer surface snow on northerly aspects over a solid mid-pack bridging the weak base above 2000m. The bottom of the snowpack consists of weak facets and depth hoar mixed around the Nov rain crust.

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches observed or reported.

Confidence

Freezing levels are uncertain on Wednesday

Regions covered