Avalanche forecast

Waterton Lakes

Dec 21 – 24, 2015Parks Canada
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Archived · expired 11 years ago

Avalanche danger

Mon
Tue
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

The skiing may have been ruined by the wind to some degree today.  Hopefully it will recover on Monday night.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible - Likely
    Size
    1–3
    These may be hidden under light new snow by Tuesday.

  • Storm Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible - Likely
    Size
    1–2
    May be building Monday night.

Weather Forecast

A weak upper front passing the region tonight will bring light snowfall (up to 5cm) and continued strong SW wind. Some models are forecasting a brief upslope flow Monday evening, with the most optimistic predicting 15 cm of snow - this accompanied by light winds from the NE. Conditions remain cool and unsettled through Wed, with the odd flurry.

Snowpack Summary

10-15cm of dense new snow is being redistributed into wind slabs by strong (gusting extreme) SW winds. A rain crust from Dec. 9th is buried 40-55cm down at tree line and below, and a widespread mid-November crust (buried down at least 60cm) is sandwiched within a strong lower snowpack.

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanche activity. A size 1.5 avalanche was observed out of the extreme terrain on the East face of Forum peak yesterday.

Confidence

Timing, track, or intensity of incoming weather system is uncertain

Regions covered