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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 19th, 2026–Feb 22nd, 2026

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 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, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Waterton Lakes, Waterton.

The snow is light and skiing is good, but keep in mind that the snow is still settling after a recent load of 50 cm. Whoomphing and cracking means it's time to ski lower angle slopes.

Keep an eye out for signs of wind effect. The same light snow which is good for skiing is also ideal for wind transport.

Confidence

Moderate

  • We are uncertain whether the wind will be enough to form new wind slabs.

Avalanche Summary

Numerous dry loose avalanches to size 1.5 were observed on Thursday as the sun came out and visibility improved. These likely ran during the storm Tues-Wed or as the sun came out Thursday.

Snowpack Summary

Another 20 cm has fallen on top of the 20-30 cm we received over this past weekend. This snow is light density and unconsolidated but is settling.

Under this, on polar aspects there are a series of melt freeze crusts and faceted layers. While on solar aspects, these layers have combined to form a singular thick melt freeze crust.

The mid and lower snowpack is well settled.

Weather Summary

Friday

A mix of sun and cloud with isolated flurries. Low of -12 °C, High of -11 °C. Light W wind gusting to 35 km/h.

Saturday

Sunny with cloudy periods. Low of -12 °C, High of -8 °C. Wind W up to 20 km/h.

Sunday

Sunny with cloudy periods. Low of -12 °C, High of -4 °C. Light SW wind gusting to 45 km/h.

Current weather forecast: Mountain Weather Forecast

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Continue to make conservative terrain choices while the storm snow settles and stabilizes.
  • Be careful with wind-loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and rollovers.
  • Be aware of the potential for loose avalanches in steep terrain where snow hasn't formed a slab.

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.

Persistent Slabs

Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.