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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 19th, 2026–Apr 21st, 2026

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 possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Regions

Waterton Lakes, Waterton.

Recent snowfall is rapidly warming. Keep an eye out for wet loose activity as we transition to a period without overnight freezing.

Wind slabs may be found in isolated alpine terrain features.

Confidence

Moderate

  • We are uncertain about how the timing or intensity of warming will affect the snowpack.

Avalanche Summary

Numerous wet loose avalanches, up to size 2 were observed on Saturday. Limited field observations.

Snowpack Summary

55 cm of last week's storm snow has settled down to 30 cm. Under it sits a melt freeze crust. The atmospheric river crust is down 50-70 cm. The mid and lower snowpack are well settled.

Weather Summary

Sun

Sunny with cloudy periods. Alpine High of 8 °C. SW wind gusting to 35 km/h. Freezing level at 3200 m.

Mon

Sunny with cloudy periods. Alpine Low of 6 °C, High of 11 °C. SW wind gusting to 35 km/h. Freezing level at 3200 m.

Tues

A mix of sun and cloud. Alpine Low of 7 °C, High of 14 °C. Wind gusting to 35 km/h. Freezing level at 3600 m.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Rocks will heat up with daytime warming and may become trigger points for loose wet avalanches.
  • Loose avalanches may start small, but they can grow and push you into dangerous terrain.
  • Wind slabs are isolated, but may remain reactive.

Problems

Loose Wet

Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.

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.