Avalanche forecast

Flathead Range & Glacier NP

Flathead Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Tue
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

The avalanche danger will rise through the day and overnight at mid-elevations as warming temperatures and a light rain create a wet snow avalanche hazard. At upper elevations, the threat of triggering large to very large avalanches lingers. Freshly-formed slabs of drifted snow near ridges also pose a hazard. 

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

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

    You can trigger freshly-formed slabs of drifted snow on steep slopes on the lee sides of ridges and in other spots that collect wind-blown snow. With moderate winds and loose snow at the snow surface, expect these slabs to grow through the day. They should be confined to ridgelines and give themselves away with cracking and a dense, cakey feel. The debris from a triggered wind slab could be enough to release much larger avalanches that break on deeply buried weak layers. 

    (3/15/2026)

    The crown faces of slab avalanches on a leeward slope. The kind of terrain to avoid today, to avoid the building wind slab hazard.

    Photo: Josh Lipkowitz

  • Persistent Slabs

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

    It's still there. The threat of triggering avalanches that break deep in the snowpack and involve tremendous amounts of debris. Your chances of triggering these slides are decreasing as the weak layers are buried further below the surface. But the propagation potential - sheeesh. That does not seem to be diminishing at all. Very large natural avalanches that released during this week's storms have crown faces hundreds of feet wide. 

    You have two options for addressing this threat. One is rolling the dice - wandering around and hoping you don't stumble onto a thin spot in the snow cover where you can collapse the otherwise deeply buried weak layer. Or staying off of and out from under steep, upper elevation slopes that face northwest through northeast to southeast and even south. "Choose wisely, you must."

    This hazard is isolated at mid-elevations, where a melt-freeze crust between the snow surface and the January Drought Layer reduces the likelihood of a person collapsing the latter. That's no guarantee of safety, so continue to mitigate that lingering hazard by avoiding steep, shaded slopes with variable snow cover above terrain traps. 

    (3/15/2026)

    A very large slab avalanche in the Marion Lake area / Pt. 7798 ( NE - 7000') 

    Photo: Burket Kniveton

  • Loose Wet

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

    Mid elevation terrain of all aspects will see an increasing hazard of loose snow avalanches today, as freezing levels climb. The sluffs should involve dry snow to start, then involve increasingly denser, wetter snow. They will be most widespread on slopes where the snow surface is not refrozen and there's plenty of snow in the trees and on rocks that can fall and serve as triggers. Light rain will exacerbate this hazard tonight.

    If your party finds snow sticking to your boards or sled, or you see rollerballs fanning down steep slopes, it's time to move along. Find lower-angled slopes or head back to the parking lot. Avoid traveling above gullies or rock bands, which can magnify the consequences of getting knocked off your feet or machine. 

    (1/12/2026)

    Rollerballs and pinwheels due to moistening surface snow at mid elevations. Clear clues to today's developing loose snow avalanche hazard.

    Photo: Michael Reavis

Avalanche Discussion

Complex travel conditions today, with danger and hazards varying by elevation. Adjust your tactics and practices as you travel, so you can fit in some riding in soft snow before warming temperatures change conditions - and increase the danger.

The most obvious hazard today will be the increasing likelihood of loose snow avalanches as temperatures rise. That's primarily confined to mid elevations until about sunset, when freezing levels jump to near the summit of the highest peaks. Also readily apparent today will be a wind slab avalanche problem. Increasing winds overnight and today will be drifting snow and building slabs of wind-blown snow near ridgelines. 

The most serious hazard - and thus the primary avalanche problem - remains the Persistent Slab avalanche problem. Yet again. The January Drought layer - a melt-freeze crust topped by large surface hoar - was buried almost seven weeks ago. The crust appears to be decomposing in many places but the surface hoar remains well-preserved. It's now buried 1 to 1.8 meters below the snow surface - deep enough that a person is unlikely to collapse it. However, the propagation potential of any collapse and fracture doesn't seem to have diminished much. Large loads continue to trigger very large avalanches, with thick crowns that extend hundreds of feet. 

Join us Thursday evening for our annual "Scoop on Spring Riding" presentation. lead Forecaster Mark Dundas will outline the conditions and safety practices particular to riding in the spring. 6 PM at the Rendezvous in Columbia Falls. Ice cream provided by Sweet Peaks. 

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