Avalanche forecast

Flathead Range & Glacier NP

Flathead Avalanche Center
View on map

Avalanche danger

Tue
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
1 · Low
Below
1 · Low
Open full map
Out of date — this forecast expired 5 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

Be wary of steep chutes and wind-loaded terrain features where a foot of recently fallen snow blew into thicker slabs of drifted snow. Steer around or tuck in below pillowy looking surfaces and cross loaded terrain features to avoid this problem. This time of year, a ride in a small avalanche can have significant consequences due to thinly covered rocks, logs, and stumps. 

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

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

    The Flathead Range and the Swan Range picked up roughly 8 to 14 inches of snow on Saturday, with more on the way today. Expect to find slabs of wind drifted snow up to 2 feet thick and large enough to bury and injure you below ridgelines and cross-loaded terrain features. Yesterday, we triggered small wind slabs in the Whitefish Range, which received half the amount of snow on Saturday. Seek out quality riding conditions at upper elevations on terrain sheltered from the wind. 

    (12/5/2021)

    Westerly winds have stripped snow from windward aspects and deposited this snow onto leeward (easterly) slopes. 

    Photo: Dundas

Avalanche Discussion

Winter is back, and we are excited to begin issuing daily avalanche advisories for the 2021-2022 season. Thankfully unseasonably warm temperatures ended, and the rain turned to snow in the past few days. We hope you begin to follow along and add reading the forecast to your daily routine.

Today we can expect to see roughly 2 to 5 inches of new snow with mostly light winds. This snow will likely only add to riding quality without posing additional avalanche hazards. IF the storm overproduces and you see eight or more inches of new snow pile up, manage your sluff with defensive riding strategies and stick to terrain with lower slope angles.

New snow on Saturday clicked the refresh button throughout our forecast area. Remote weather stations in the Flathead Range and the Swan Range picked up roughly 8 to 14 inches of snow, and the Whitefish Range followed along with 4 to 8 inches. This low-density snow fell on a slick crust and a thick supportable slab that blankets the landscape at mid and upper elevations where old snow existed. In this type of terrain, be ready to manage loose dry sluffs in areas sheltered from the wind. Be cautious of slabs of drifted snow in wind-loaded terrain features and especially so in the alpine terrain of the Flathead Range, Glacier National Park, or the Swan Range. 

Yesterday Mark and I found a surprisingly deep snowpack at around 7000 feet in the Whitefish Range. Numerous layers exist in the snowpack due to the plentiful rain events and bouts of warm temperatures. We found a 2-foot thick hard slab below the new snow with two distinct weak layers further down. See observation for more details. There is a higher than usual degree of uncertainty due to a lack of observations. Please let us know what you saw using the observation tab if you get out into the mountains. It makes for a more accurate forecast.

Regions covered