Avalanche forecast

Flathead Range & Glacier NP

Flathead Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Thu
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Out of date — this forecast expired 5 years ago.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

Conditions are generally stable, with a few exceptions to keep in mind. Watch for small wet loose avalanches coming from steep, rocky areas. Move to shaded terrain with lower slope angles if you see pinwheels tumbling down the hill or you start sinking past your boot tops into wet snow. Continue to stay away from slopes below glide cracks and cornices. Conditions will change overnight with new snow and increasing winds.

Avalanche problems

  • Loose Wet

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1

    Loose wet avalanches remain a concern on very steep, rocky slopes. Especially where dry snow is becoming wet for the first time. These will be relatively small, though they can run longer in confined chutes. They can be dangerous where they push you into a terrain trap. Roller balls and pinwheels coming from rocky cliff bands exposed to the sun are the first signs of impending natural avalanche activity. Sinking into wet snow to your boot top is a warning. This problem is easy to recognize and avoid: move to shady terrain with lower slope angles and no overhead hazards.

    (4/6/2021) Small wet loose avalanches originating from sunny, rocky areas on steep slopes

Avalanche Discussion

Solar aspects have been through several days of a melt-freeze cycle. On Monday, a round of small wet loose avalanches ran from steep, rocky, sunny terrain across the region. Tuesday, the top 6 inches of the snowpack became wet on sunny slopes, though no one reported any new avalanches or signs of instability. A few roller balls tumbled down from steep northerly slopes in the Flathead Range, indicating that the dry surface was transitioning to moist.

The snow surface again froze into a hard crust overnight across the Swan and Whitefish ranges. You’re likely to find corn snow on sunny aspects as it begins to soften. 

In the Flathead Range and southern Glacier Park, weather stations show above freezing temperatures overnight and into Wednesday morning. There, I’d expect to find moist to wet snow earlier in the day.

Large cornices still hang over typically leeward slopes. These tend to fail during the heat of the day and deserve a wide berth, both from below and while traveling on ridgelines.

Glide cracks continue to widen as the whole snowpack slides over the wet, smooth ground below. One of these cracks released as a glide avalanche on Monday. Stay away from glide cracks and out from under them.

Conditions will change overnight and into Thursday as new snow and wind move across northwest Montana.

Regions covered