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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 15th, 2025–Dec 16th, 2025

Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Treeline
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Regions

Crowsnest North, Crowsnest South.

Avoid wind loaded areas.
A buried weak layer is best dealt with through conservative terrain selection.

Confidence

Low

Avalanche Summary

No avalanche activity has been reported since the warm and wet storm last week. When several large persistent slab avalanches occurred.

Snowpack Summary

Up to 15 cm of snow has been blown around by strong winds and sits on a widespread melt–freeze crust, which is likely everywhere except high-alpine terrain.

A mid-November crust is buried 50 to 100 cm deep. Beneath it, the snowpack contains several additional crusts, and in some locations, a weak, sugary facet layer near the ground.

At treeline, snow depths range from roughly 50 to 100 cm, tapering off quickly at lower elevations.

Weather Summary

Monday Night
Cloudy with up to 10 mm of precipitation as snow or rain at treeline. 60 to 80 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -1 °C. Freezing level falling to 1500 m.

Tuesday
Cloudy with 5 cm of snow. 40 to 60 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C. Freezing level 1600 m.

Wednesday
Mostly cloudy with 25 to 35 cm of snow. 50 to 80 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C. Freezing level 1700 m.

Thursday
Mostly cloudy with 2 to 3 cm of snow. 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind-affected terrain.
  • If triggered, wind slabs avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.
  • Be aware of the potential for large avalanches due to buried weak layers.

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.