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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 29th, 2020–Jan 1st, 2021

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, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Waterton Lakes.

The snowpack in the park changes dramatically as you leave the area immediately around Cameron Lake. Take the time to evaluate conditions locally if you move east of the Divide.

Weather Forecast

Wednesday through Friday will bring relatively similar conditions: Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries bringing up to 10cm of snow spread over the three days, moderate to strong SW ridgetop winds, and alpine highs of -7.

Snowpack Summary

Snow depth is highly variable, and alpine and front range areas are very wind affected. The Cameron Lake area has seen much less wind treeline and below. The December 9 crust facet combo is down 30-80cm, still giving hard sudden results in test profiles. A sandwich of crusts and facets form the base of the snowpack.

Avalanche Summary

No recent avalanches observed

Confidence

The weather pattern is stable

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.