Avalanche forecast

Presidential Range

Mount Washington Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Tue
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
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Out of date — this forecast expired 5 years ago.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

New snow and continued wind driven snow will build slabs that may fracture and slide under the weight of a passing skier or climber. These slabs will be large enough to carry and possibly bury person in east facing ravines where wind drifted snow is accumulating. The avalanche danger is MODERATE today but may exceed that rating if snowfall exceeds the forecasted total. Wind scoured snow surfaces will refreeze today and create a long sliding fall hazard. 

Increased streamflow from rain and melting snow yesterday undermined snow and weakened snow bridges over stream beds. Crevasses and waterfall holes are large enough to fall into in the Headwall area of Tuckerman Ravine. Rotten snow off trail remains knee to hip deep. The Little Headwall has melted and turned back into a waterfall with open water upstream.  The lower half of Sherburne ski trail is now CLOSED at the rope across the trail at crossover 5 due to melting and recent heavy rain. Please help prevent erosion by removing your skis and walking down the Tucks trail from there.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

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

    Three inches of snow that fell yesterday will combine with two to three inches more new snow this morning to build drifts of new wind slab. Wind speed and direction are ideal for loading this snow into the usual places in eastern ravines. These wind slabs will most likely fail on soft snow above the interface with the warmer old snowpack. The largest avalanches in Tucks and Gulf of Slides will be capable of carrying and burying a person. Continued wind transport and snow sluffing from steep terrain are red flags that this avalanche problem type exists.

Avalanche Discussion

Snow that fell early yesterday may have bonded well to the warm, wet snowpack, but most of it did not. Air temperatures were in the twenties on the summit while it fell, despite warm air aloft.  Currently, the snowpack is likely to be refrozen near the surface in the alpine with loose snow on the ground the result. These data points mean that somewhere in the neighborhood of five inches of snow on the ground will be available to be transported by the wind today. It’s probably a good day to lap lower angle slopes outside of steeper terrain and avoid the temptation to cheat this avalanche problem. Better yet, give the snow a day to settle and let the warm snowpack and warmer air temperatures tomorrow create some well-settled, worry free corn snow. 

As a PSA reminder, the new snow has thinly covered rocks on area ski trails. There are sharks in the water, as they say. 

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Listen to the weekly MWAC Outreach Podcast provided by Ski The Whites. Discussions include snowpack information, weekend outlook, and general avalanche related info. 

 

The Harvard Cabin is open for camping only with no entry allowed inside the cabin. There is no access to the breezeway at HoJos.

Please Remember:

  • Safe travel in avalanche terrain requires training and experience. This forecast is just one tool to help you make your own decisions in avalanche terrain. You control your own risk by choosing where, when, and how you travel.
  • Avalanche danger may change when actual weather differs from the higher summits forecast.

For more information contact the US Forest Service Snow Rangers, AMC visitor services staff at the Pinkham Notch Visitor Center, or the caretakers at Hermit Lake Shelters or seasonally at the Harvard Cabin (generally December 1 through March 31). The Mount Washington Ski Patrol is also available on spring weekends.

Regions covered