Avalanche forecast

Waterton Lakes

Dec 15 – 18, 2016Parks Canada
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Avalanche danger

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

Ice climbers: in the Front (Eastern) Ranges, avalanche hazard is higher than rated. Avoid hard, cardboard-like Wind Slab, especially around terrain traps like cliffs and gullys.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–3
    Wind slabs are currently a problem in the Alpine in Western Areas, and on all snowy slopes in Eastern areas.  Watch for this problem to move to S and W facing slopes if we see moderate NE winds Thursday-Friday.

Weather Forecast

Thursday: Light upslope event : Cloudy with light snowfall. A minor inversion sees alpine temps around -17, with Valley Floor temps falling into the -20's.  Light- Moderate Easterly winds.Friday: Slowly clearing, chance of flurries, -27 at Treeline. Moderate NE winds slowly easing.Saturday: Clear. Moderate-Strong Westerly winds, -25 with inversion.

Snowpack Summary

30cm of storm snow has been blown into windslabs (or scree) at all elevations in the East, but remains low density in the West. This overlies several buried wind slab layers, beneath which are dense facets bonding well to a crust near ground.  Snowpack tests at Treeline indicated some potential for shears in the facets below the wind slabs.

Avalanche Summary

On Tuesday, Wind Slabs in gulleys in Eastern areas were observed to be touchy, often on cross-loaded gully walls (terrain traps). On Wednesday, several large avalanches were observed: A Size 2 Cornice failure, several size 2 Wind Slabs on N and NE facing Alpine slopes, and a fresh Size 2.5 Wind Slab on a NE aspect slope at 2350m.

Confidence

Wind speed and direction is uncertain on Friday

Regions covered