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Avalanche Bulletin
Jasper National Park
Issued:
Saturday, March 13, 2010 16:17Valid Until:
Sunday, March 14, 2010 16:00Bulletin Area:
The forecast area covers the Continental Divide, eastwards to the Maligne Lake drainage and from Saskatchewan River Crossing in the south to Hwy 16 in the north.Parks Canada strongly recommends that the general public avoid areas where the avalanche danger rating is HIGH or EXTREME. Any travel in these areas should be restricted to Simple terrain or kept within the boundaries of a ski resort.
Danger Rating: |
Saturday | Sunday | Monday | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine | 4-High | 4-High | 4-High | |
| Treeline | 4-High | 4-High | 4-High | |
| Below Treeline | 3-Considerable | 3-Considerable | 3-Considerable |
Synopsis:
A field trip in the Whistler creek area produced shooting cracks and whumphing at all elevations on Southerly aspects. Two skier remote avalanches in the same area were observed up to 200 meters away from the skiers indicating that the snowpack has sufficient load and slab development to make all aspects susceptible to avalanches. Some natural avalanches were observed on all aspects but most of the avalanches were on lee North and East aspects. At treeline and below the storm snow slid on a buried surface hoar layer. On Southerly aspects, avalanches occurred where the storm snow had a poor bond to the previous sun crust surface. With the forecasted warmer temperatures, skiers and climbers can expect natural activity on all aspects to continue. Restrict your activities to only the most conservative routes of travel and ski lines. Climbers should evaluate the hazards above for avalanche activity.
Avalanche Activity:
Avalanche control will be taking place along Highway 93 in the next few days with periodic road closures of two hours or more. Numerous natural avalanches were observed as the skies cleared showing that two natural avalanche cycles occurred during the storm. Most avalanches in the first event were lee aspects on high alpine ridges with wide propagations, but crown depths mostly between 15cm – 50 cm. The second cycle which occurred in the last part of the storm released avalanches at all elevations and aspects. Specific locations of natural activity included an elevation band between 2300 – 2400m where avalanches were small but occurring mid-slope and the other unique location was on the north aspect of alpine cross loaded gullies on predominantly West facing slopes. At treeline and below, smaller slabs were releasing on the buried surface hoar layer in open glades with lee aspects.
Outlook:
An upper ridge is expected to stay in place through the weekend with warm daytime temperatures. Freezing levels could rise up to 2100m promoting more natural avalanche activity. The next system should be arriving with light snowfall sometime in the middle of next week. The avalanche danger will stay in the considerable to high range for the next few days as the warmer temperatures have their effect on the snowpack.
Travel Conditions:
The alpine will have storm snow over hard wind slabs and rocky areas. At treeline, ski penetration will be in the 20cm of storm snow over a supportive midpack, while below treeline, sheltered areas in the trees will have storm snow over unsupportive facets. ME
0800 weather: |
Parker Ridge (2010m and 2350m) | Marmot Basin (1985m and 2360m) |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum (ºC) | -2.5 | -3 |
| Minimum (ºC) | -12 | -10 |
| Snowfall (cm) | 16 | 16 |
| Precipitation (mm) | ||
| Snowpack (cm) | 150 | 150 |
| Wind speed | Moderate (26-40 km/h) | Light (1-25 km/h) |
| Ridgetop wind direction | SW | SW |
FOR MORE DETAILS:
Warden Office: (780) 852-6155
Emergency: 1-877-852-3100
24 Hours Recorded Message: (780) 852-6176
Related Link: http://www.avalanche.ca/
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