Avalanche forecast

Waterton Lakes

Mar 5 – 8, 2019Parks Canada
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Archived · expired 8 years ago

Avalanche danger

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

Skiing is fantastic with calm winds and silky snow. Expect this to change on Thursday as winds increase.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–2
    Old windslabs are lingering in the alpine, and new windslabs will be forming as winds increase from the SW on Thursday

  • Deep Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely
    Size
    1.5–2.5
    The basal weaknesses are well bridged in deeper snowpack areas, but there remains the possibility to be surprised in thin snowpack areas.

Weather Forecast

Tuesday: Calm winds and increasing cloudiness through the day. Alpine high -8Wednesday: Cloudy with isolated flurries as the winds switch to SW increasing in the eveningThursday: Flurries ending in the morning with ridgetop winds increasing to 50km/h from the SW. Rising temperatures with an alpine high of -4

Snowpack Summary

10-15cm of powder is covering variety of wind affected surfaces at all elevations including old windslabs on all aspects in the Alpine and at Treeline. This loose snow will form new windslabs with increasing wind beginning Tuesday night. The midpack is generally strong in thick snowpack locations, and is bridging weak basal facets.

Avalanche Summary

A field trip to the Cameron Lake area on Monday saw isolated small loose dry avalanches out of steep rocky terrain

Confidence

Regions covered