Avalanche forecast

Waterton Lakes

Feb 13 – 16, 2022
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Avalanche danger

Mon
Tue
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
1 · Low
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

Ski quality varies throughout the day with solar warming.

Ice and snow close to town continue to deteriorate with high freezing levels.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely - Possible
    Size
    1–2

    Warm temps have caused settlement in the snowpack at lower elevations. Windslabs still exist in higher terrain, especially on polar slopes

  • Cornices

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

    High freezing levels and alpine inversions throughout the weekend will weaken cornices.

Weather Forecast

Sunday: Mainly sunny with cloudy periods. SW winds gusting to moderate. Alpine High -1. Freezing levels 2000m.

Monday: Cloudy with flurries in the afternoon, trace amounts snow. Moderate SW wind . Alpine temps, high -4. Freezing levels 1600m.

Tuesday: Cloudy with flurries, amounting to 10 - 15 cm. Light NE winds. Alpine high -7.  FL valley bottom.

Snowpack Summary

Winds have pressed or scoured snowpack at all elevations. Moist snow to approximately 2000m on Saturday and higher on steep solar aspects. This overlies Jan 18 crust extending all aspects up to 2000m, and higher on solar aspects. Well settled midpack, with facets above Dec 4 crust, buried 150-200 cm, above Nov layers.

Avalanche Summary

A few small wet loose avalanches observed during peak warming on Thursday. Please post any avalanche observations on the Mountain Information Network, we really appreciate any observations.

Confidence

Due to the quality of field observations

Regions covered