Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Waterton Lakes.
Weather Forecast
A cooling/drying trend through Saturday, then warming into next week.Saturday: Light snowfall (with Extreme winds) eases early Saturday to Flurries and Strong Westerly winds. High -8Sunday: Mainly clear, Strong Westerlies. Treeline High of -7. Alpine Temperature inversion. Monday: Clear, Moderate Westerlies. Temperature inversion, highs near 0.
Snowpack Summary
On Thursday, rain fell below 1850m, with 10-40cm snowfall above redistributed by Strong SW - W winds, adding more load atop 120cm of recent storm snow from last weekend. This all sits on crust, or facets, Below Treeline; and hard smooth surfaces in all open areas. Facets deep in the snowpack (& a deeper crust) may be reactive under the new load.
Avalanche Summary
On Thursday and Friday, fresh Natural avalanche activity was visible in most paths observed. Many of these were large (Size 2 - 3). This included numerous avalanches from windward and front range locations that are typically wind-scoured scree, but are now holding snow. Natural triggering is expected to taper off over the weekend.
Confidence
Due to the number and quality of field observations
Avalanche Problems
Wind Slabs
Aspects: North, North East, East, South East.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Likely
Expected Size: 2 - 3
Storm Slabs
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: All elevations.
Likelihood: Possible
Expected Size: 2 - 3
Deep Persistent Slabs
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: All elevations.
Likelihood: Unlikely - Possible
Expected Size: 3 - 4