Avalanche forecast

Waterton Lakes

Dec 31, 2015 – Jan 3, 2016Parks Canada
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Archived · expired 11 years ago

Avalanche danger

Thu
Fri
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

With warm and stable weather in the forecast the Alpine playground is likely to be pretty inviting over the next few days. Watch for increased avalanche activity/instability on solar aspects as the forecast strong temperature inversion kicks in.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely - Possible
    Size
    1–2
    Previously formed windslabs are now difficult to detect as they were buried by the recent new snow.

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely
    Size
    1–3

  • Loose Dry

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1
    Small sluffs may trigger previous windslabs.

Weather Forecast

A strong upper ridge aloft is creating a pattern of stable weather which is forecast to persist in to next week at least.  A warm pacific airmass slowly nudging it's way North East will ride up over the present cold air, creating a strong temperature inversion with highs approaching 0 degrees in the Alpine by Thursday afternoon.

Snowpack Summary

5-10cm of light new snow has buried windslabs formed by the weekend's Mod-Strong SW winds. Below, old layers of settling storm and wind slab are interspersed with two thin layers of facets and possibly surface hoar which continue to slowly stabilize. This overlies the Dec 9th crust (down 50-90cm), still a concern as a developing weak interface.

Avalanche Summary

A few naturally triggered loose snow avalanches up to size 1.0 have been observed in the past couple of days.

Confidence

Intensity of incoming weather systems is uncertain

Regions covered