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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 16th, 2013–Dec 19th, 2013

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

Regions

Waterton Lakes.

Early season hazards remain. Use careful route selection and conservative travel technique. The very windy week has left us with a mangled snowpack!

Weather Forecast

By Thursday the westerly flow shifts to a cold northerly flow with temperatures falling to low minus teens.10cm of snow expected through Wednesday.

Snowpack Summary

Strong winds continued to stiffen upper snowpack creating slab like conditions. A layer of less dense snow in the proximity of the Nov 15 thin temperature crust is buried by about half a meter of denser snow. It may not trigger easily. Watch loaded gullies, cross loaded terrain and other lee areas at all aspects. Still shallow at lower elevation.

Avalanche Summary

No recent activity has been reported.

Confidence

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.