Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Waterton, Waterton Lakes.
Winter Returns!! Snow is expected on Friday through the day followed by a few days of cold temperatures.
There will be good skiing to be had, but uncertainty lies with how well the new snow will bond to the old crust.
Confidence
Low
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches were observed this week.
Snowpack Summary
Up to 20cm of windslab overlies Mid January Crust and Christmas Crust which both exists to 2400m. Alpine and Treeline midpack is well settled and overlies basal facets and depth hoar especially in thin areas. Below treeline the crusts are consolidated and overlie facests and depth hoar to ground.
Weather Summary
Friday
Overcast with snow all day. Precip amounts 20-30cm. Temps will hover around -5 in the alpine. Moderate N'erly winds.
Saturday
Broken skies with moderate NE winds. Temps will fall to -26 during the day. No significant precip.
Sunday
Broken skies with moderate NE winds. Temps remain near -26 during the day. No significant precip.
Avalanche Problems
Wind Slabs
Old windslabs from Thursday's wind event will be buried by new storm snow. As the load created by the new snow increases windslabs may be easier to trigger.
Aspects: North, North East, East, South East, South.
Elevations: Alpine.
Likelihood: Possible
Expected Size: 1.5 - 2.5
Storm Slabs
This problem will build through the day on Friday as the snow falls. Be aware that small storm slabs may step down and trigger the buried windslab as well.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: All elevations.
Likelihood: Likely
Expected Size: 1 - 2