Dashboard Regions Weather Stations Radar Alerts Glossary
Contact About
Log In

Register for an account and never miss a forecast again!

Register

Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 27th, 2020–Dec 30th, 2020

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.

Good skiing can be found in sheltered areas, but uncertainty still surrounds deeper weak layers and they warrant a cautious approach. This is especially true as you leave the deeper snowpack immediately around Cameron Lake.

Weather Forecast

Monday: Cloudy with flurries, alpine high -7, light westerly winds

Tuesday: Mix of sun and cloud with isolated flurries. Similar wind and temperatures.

Wednesday: Similar weather to the previous days, with an inversion forming, and winds increasing.

Snowpack Summary

Snow depth is highly variable, with scoured windward slopes in the alpine, and windslab from SW winds. The Cameron Lake area has seen much less wind affect treeline and below. Dec 22 crust is down 5-20cm below 1900m, Dec 9 crust is not very prominent, down 20-80cm. The midpack is well consolidated with an ice crust forming the base of the snowpack.

Avalanche Summary

No avalanches observed on Sunday. On Saturday a larger avalanche was observed along the Akamina Parkway where either a windslab or cornice failure had stepped down to a midpack weak layer, likely the December 9 crust.

Confidence

Due to the number of field observations

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.