Avalanche forecast

Waterton Lakes

Dec 20 – 23, 2013Parks Canada
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Archived · expired 13 years ago

Avalanche danger

Sat
Sun
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

The few cms of new snow have not overcome the early season conditions. Windslabs and shallow snowpack are the main concerns right now so traveling conservatively is important.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely - Possible
    Size
    1–2
    There may be a number of windslabs on North and East slopes that have built during the wind events of the last week.

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely - Possible
    Size
    1–3
    The crusts near the bottom of the snowpack have been weakening, especially on cooler North aspects.

Weather Forecast

Weather pattern for the next few days will bring a trace of s to areas along the divide but no significant snowfall. Temperatures will be cool, in the minus teens, until things start to warm up on Monday.

Snowpack Summary

5 of very light new snow fell Wednesday to bring Little Prairie to 65cm. Summit Lake = 100 cm total. Instabilities within the 25 to 35 cm of storm slab and at the old snow faceted interface indicate skiers could trigger avalanches in steep unanchored terrain at higher elevation areas.

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanche activity observed.

Confidence

Due to the number of field observations

Regions covered