Avalanche forecast

Jasper

Jan 19 – 20, 2018Parks Canada
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Archived · expired 9 years ago

Avalanche danger

Sat
Sun
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
2 · Moderate
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Highlights

The new snowfall has created touchy new windslabs in specific areas, particularly transitioning from treeline into the alpine.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible - Likely
    Size
    1–1.5
    5-10cm of storm snow has been pushed into fresh windslabs. The concern is for areas where these slabs overlay a couple layers of surface hoar in the top 30cm of the snowpack. Field teams found touchy new slabs in the Hilda Creek drainage.

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible - Likely
    Size
    1–2
    There are 3 distinct surface hoar layers in the top 40cm of the snowpack. These layers are expected to become more reactive to natural and human triggers with the additional snow load leading into the weekend.

Weather Forecast

Snowfall amounts tapering off steadily, with only light scattered flurries expected through to the weekend. Temperatures will continue to cool, dipping down to -15C in the alpine. Winds decreasing and returning to the light range, gusting moderate from the Southwest.

Snowpack Summary

5-10cm of new snow has been pushed around by recent moderate SW winds, forming new windslabs in the alpine. This new snow covers a couple interesting surface hoar layers in the top portion of the snowpack - Jan 7 (5-10mm well preserved) and Jan 17 (2-5mm). These layers may present a touchy interface for new windslabs and storm snow.

Avalanche Summary

Limited visibility, but field teams report several natural slab avalanches to sz 2, originating in the alpine and running to the bottom of the track. The Jan 7 surface hoar layer was reactive to skier traffic, and ski cutting produced numerous sz 1 wind slabs in the Hilda Creek area. More activity is expected on the Jan 7 layer over the next while.

Confidence

Due to the number of field observations

Regions covered