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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 30th, 2025–Feb 2nd, 2025

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

Regions

Waterton Lakes, Waterton.

The extended drought has weakened our snowpack, the upcoming storm will be the first significant new load in the past month. Go out cautiously and assess how the new snow is bonding to the underlying surfaces.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches have been observed in the past 3 days.

Snowpack Summary

Surface snow is wind effected at all elevations. This overlies facetted snow in many areas, old hard windslabs, or a melt freeze crust below treeline and on steep solar slopes into the alpine. Generally, the snowpack is faceting at all elevations with continued drought conditions.

Snowpack depths at treeline range from 50 - 120 cm.

Weather Summary

Fri

Cloudy, 0 - 5 cm of new snow, ridgetop winds 60 km/hr from the southwest. Treeline high of 0°C.

Sat

10 cm new snow overnight and up to 5 cm through the day. Ridgetop winds 50 - 70 km/hr from the southwest. Treeline high of -4°C.

Sun

Ongoing light snowfall, 2 - 10 cm through the day. Ridgetop wind 10 - 30 km/hr, treeline high of -13°C, low of -25°C.

Check out the Mountain Weather Forecast for the most up to date information.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Wind slabs are most reactive during their formation.
  • Watch for signs of slab formation throughout the day.

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.