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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 24th, 2024–Dec 26th, 2024

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.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Waterton Lakes, Waterton.

Not much change happening with the snowpack right now but wind slab triggering remains a possibility in steep lee features in the alpine and treeline.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

Evidence of a natural wind slab avalanche cycle has been observed in the Cameron Lake and Cameron Valley area, with avalanches up to size 2.5. Notably, two wind slab avalanches from the south Forum ridge area ran from the ridge to lake elevation and broke the ice on the lake. These avalanches likely happened on Wednesday or Thursday last week.

Yesterday, a local ski area reported two size 1.5 wind slabs with explosive control work in previously unskied terrain.

Snowpack Summary

Around 5 cm of new snow fell Saturday night, this overlies older hard windslabs in the alpine and treeline and a thin melt freeze crust below treeline.

Snowpack depths at treeline range from 80 - 120 cm.

Weather Summary

Tues

Cloudy in the morning, clearing later in the day. Ridgetop winds 50 - 60 km/hr from the southwest. Treeline high of +3°C.

Wed

Sunny. Ridgetop winds 50 km/hr from the southwest. Treeline high of -1°C, low of -4°C.

Thurs

Becoming cloudy with 0-3 cm of new snow in the afternoon. Treeline high of -3°C. Southwest winds at ridgetop, 40 - 60 km/hr.

Check out the Mountain Weather Forecast for the most up to date information.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Be careful with wind-loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and rollovers.

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.