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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 17th, 2022–Mar 20th, 2022

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.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Waterton Lakes.

Tuesdays storm brought wet flurries below treeline but a refresh at higher elevations. Ski quality was better than expected on Wednesdays field day.

Small wind slabs are still susceptible to human triggering in alpine and treeline lees.

Weather Forecast

Friday: Cloudy with isolated flurries. Strong to extreme strong SW winds. Alpine high -1. Freezing level 1800m.

Saturday: Cloudy with isolated flurries. Strong gusting extreme SW winds. Alpine high 0. FL 1800m.

Sunday: Cloudy with isolated flurries, amounting to 5 cm . Clearing near noon. Moderate SW winds. Alpine high -5. FL valley bottom.

Snowpack Summary

30 cm of new snow with moderate to strong south west winds  have created new wind slabs 30-60 deep in alpine and treeline. This overlies old windslabs and the March 3 rain crust. Feb 15 crust down 70-120 cm exists up to 2000m. Lower snowpack is well settled 1F to P. HS 250-300 cm near the continental divide.

Avalanche Summary

On tuesday a wet loose cycle occurred during the storm with a few natural to size 2. Adjacent tenures have reported isolated large wind slab avalanches to size 3. As always keep those Mountain Information Network observations coming.

Confidence

The weather pattern is stable

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.