Dashboard Regions Weather Stations Radar Alerts Glossary
Contact About
Log In

Register for an account and never miss a forecast again!

Register

Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 14th, 2026–Jan 15th, 2026

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, human triggered possible.

Regions

North Rockies, East Kakwa, Tumbler.

Strong to extreme northwest wind may drive a wind slab problem in leeward alpine terrain.
Wind slabs have the potential to step down to a deeper weak layer.

Confidence

Moderate

  • Uncertainty is due to the limited number of field observations.
  • Uncertainty is due to the fact that persistent slabs are particularly difficult to forecast.

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches reported. We suspect natural avalanche activity occurred on Tuesday and Wednesday due to high freezing levels and rain.

Snowpack Summary

Switching winds from the northwest combined with light precipitation, may build new wind slabs on leeward slopes in the alpine. At 1600 m and below, a melt-freeze crust will exist with moist snow below. The thickness of this crust may vary with elevation.

A crust from mid December, surrounded by weak facets, is buried 50 to 170 cm deep, and may be capped by the melt-freeze crust.

In thin snowpack areas, faceted grains or depth hoar may exist at the base of the snowpack. Snowpack depths are well above average for this time of year, around 2 m at treeline.

Weather Summary

Wednesday Night
Partly cloudy. 70 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C. Freezing level 900 m.

Thursday
Mostly sunny. 40 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C. Freezing level valley bottom.

Friday
Sunny. 40 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C. Freezing level 1600 m.

Saturday
Sunny. 60 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 3 °C. Freezing level 3100 m.




More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind-affected terrain.
  • Avoid steep terrain that is rocky and thin.
  • If triggered, wind slabs avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.

Problems

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.

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.