Avalanche forecast

Whitefish Range

Flathead Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

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Out of date — this forecast expired 5 years ago.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

Highlights

Expect generally safe avalanche conditions in the Whitefish Range today. Prolonged cool temperatures and a trace of snow overnight will make for dust on crust conditions. Watch for small and inconsequential point releases out of rocky terrain. Steer away from steep, rocky terrain with variable snow depths at upper elevations that face northwest to northeast. This kind of terrain still harbors weak faceted snow from late January.

Avalanche problems

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely
    Size
    2–3

    It is progressively more and more unlikely to trigger a very large avalanche failing on weak faceted snow 2 to 6 feet below the surface. The most likely location of triggering an avalanche-like this is on slopes that lack a hard and supportable melt-freeze crust under the new snow. Aspects that face northwest to the northeast at upper elevations lack this kind of crust. Steer away from slopes that are rocky with variable snow depths that appear complex to navigate. Avoid steep convex rollovers where a rider is more likely to collapse the weak layer leading to a large avalanche. A cornice fall will be the most likely natural trigger. 

    (3/16/2021) A hard slab of snow sitting over buried persistent weak layers.

Avalanche Discussion

Remote weather stations in the Flathead and the Swan Range show temperatures that dipped below freezing starting at 7 pm last night. The Whitefish Range lucked out on Sunday and remained cool throughout the day, which kept surfaces frozen since Saturday. Precipitation overnight at the Tunnel Ridge station in the Flathead Range is picking up roughly 4 inches of snow by 5 am. Noisy Basin in the Swan Range shows unreliable and variable data, and the Whiteish Range is mostly getting missed by precipitation. Expect accumulations to vary from basin to basin today and track how much snow fell overnight in the drainage you are in.

The weather forecast shows clearing skies and freezing levels to reach up to roughly 7000 feet by late afternoon. This will start a round of small loose snow avalanches that should be easy to manage. Look for small point releases out of steep, rocky terrain and if you begin to see rollerballs, expect these dry sluffs to take on wet loose characteristics. This should be your sign to move quickly through areas with overhead hazards and be extra cautious of what type of terrain is below you. 

An overnight re-freeze will make cornice fall less likely today. Although we removed them from the list, maintain good travel protocols, and give ridgelines a wide berth. Travel further back from the ridge than you feel comfortable with and give the slopes below them a margin for error. These cornices loom over the terrain that is most likely to harbor weak snow buried 2 to 6 feet deep. The most likely trigger for a persistent slab avalanche is a falling cornice.

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