Avalanche forecast

Waterton Lakes

Jan 31 – Feb 1, 2023Avalanche Canada
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Avalanche danger

Thu
Fri
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
2 · Moderate

Highlights

Sustained strong wind (SW) is in the forecast which will continue to distribute snow and create wind slabs at tree-line and above. Be especially cautious in lee areas.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible - Likely
    Size
    1.5–2.5

    25cm of storm snow fell near Cameron Lake on Fri Jan 27 (up to 50cm in the townsite). This snow has been redistributed in to wind slabs in lee areas since then, by moderate to strong wind with variable direction. These slabs could be as deep as 50cm (deeper in Eastern side of park).

Confidence

Low

Avalanche Summary

Three wind slabs up to size 1.5 were observed from the Akamina Parkway today (Jan 30). They likely occurred within the last 24 hours.

Snowpack Summary

Moderate to strong, variable wind has redistributed recent storm snow (20cm near the Divide and 40-50cm in the Eastern park) into wind slabs. This overlies old wind slabs or the mid-January crust that exists to 2400m. The mid-pack is well settled and overlies basal facets and depth hoar, especially in thin areas.

Weather Summary

Wind in the strong to extreme range from the NW will persist through until Thursday. Temperatures will also slowly rise to -5 in the valley and -7 at the ridge by Thursday. Trace accumulations of snow may occur on Wednesday.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Regions covered