Avalanche forecast

Waterton Lakes

Feb 19 – 22, 2019Parks Canada
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Archived · expired 8 years ago

Avalanche danger

Wed
Thu
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

Wind slabs will continue to form on all aspects as winds change throughout the forecast period. Ski quality below treeline is excellent.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    1–2
    Wind slabs will continue to develop on all aspects with winds switching from W to NE on Wednesday.

  • Deep Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely - Possible
    Size
    2–3.5
    A layer of weak facets is lurking at the bottom of the snowpack. This new snow may be enough to affect this basal weakness in shallow snowpack areas.

Weather Forecast

Tuesday: Cloudy with isolated flurries, increasing moderate winds from the SW. Alpine High -13.Wednesday: Cloudy with isolated flurries, with winds switching to NE gusting to 40km/h. Alpine High -9Thursday: Mix of sun and cloud. Light NE winds and an alpine high of -15

Snowpack Summary

25-40cm of recent snow formed windslabs from moderate SW winds over the past week that are now buried and difficult to identify. More recent N winds have also formed slabs immediately below ridge crests. The midpack is strong in deep snowpack areas but this increase in loading will stress the weak, facetted basal snowpack.

Avalanche Summary

Evidence of natural windslabs from the storm was seen on a field trip to Cameron Lake area on Monday, with a few more natural recent loose dry avalanches out of steep rocky terrain. Surrounding operations have been seeing natural and skier triggered windslabs to size 1.5.

Confidence

Due to the number and quality of field observations

Regions covered