Presidential Range

You could trigger a small avalanche on steep south and east-facing snow-covered slopes above 3000 ft in elevation. Look out for areas of smooth, pillowy snow to identify potentially unstable areas. Travel on firm, hard, textured snow surfaces to reduce your exposure to unstable snow. 

Continue to use general caution when traveling on steep, snow-covered slopes and make ongoing observations of the snow surface to inform your decision-making.

Low avalanche danger does not mean no avalanche danger. And not having a listed avalanche problem does not mean that you won’t find unstable snow. 

The combination of size, distribution, and sensitivity makes your likelihood of triggering an avalanche across the entire Presidential Range unlikely; however, if you choose to enter steep avalanche terrain above 3000 ft you increase your likelihood of encountering unstable snow. 

The size is expected to be small, but this could cause a fall that could be consequential. With variable surface conditions, you will need to visually assess terrain before committing to travelling across it.

Wind Slabs:

Blowing snow has been observed the past two days from high winds. The bulk of this snow was snow available for transport on the west side, as seen by the Mount Washington Observatory’s F6: “17th and 18th precipitation and snowfall estimated at one collection due to unrealistically high amounts in can from blowing snow”. 

Take time to assess previously drifted snow by digging down to the hard old snow interface and use hand shears or column tests to assess sensitivity. Areas of concern will be steep and unsupported snow slopes. Due to predominant northwest winds, look out for new wind slabs in sheltered terrain features above 3000 ft in east and south-facing terrain. The decreasing winds today make additional transport unlikely.

Variable Snow Surfaces:

Another hazard may be variable snow surface conditions. Solar aspects may have a thin sun crust from warming. Later in the day, if surfaces are warming, snow may wet and you may need to manage wet loose sluffs. Extreme winds may have hardened some snow surface conditions to the point where it is just edgeable. The winds may have also sculpted softer snow into textured wavey ripples called sastrugi. Each of these should be identifiable with good visibility today. 

You should account for changing surfaces today with warming temperatures, solar gain, and low winds. The primary hazard each of these presents is causing a fall, which could be consequential depending on the terrain. OBSERVATIONS: Please consider submitting an observation on our website or in the new Avy phone app of what you are seeing in your travels. Submitting an observation hones your skills, informs other users, and improves our forecasts.