Avalanche forecast

Presidential Range

Mount Washington Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Thu
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
No rating
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Highlights

Dangerous avalanche conditions exist on all aspects above 3000 feet in elevation. As warm temperatures and rain continue to melt the snowpack, areas of saturated snow, large enough to bury people and damage trees, may be easily triggered or avalanche naturally. These avalanches could reach far into runout zones. Use conservative route choices if traveling on or under steep terrain today.

Avalanche problems

  • Wet Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    1–3

    As meltwater continues to move through the snowpack, old wind slabs will continue to destabilize and transition into wet slabs today. This avalanche problem will be found on all aspects at elevations above 3000 feet where pockets of wind drifted snow still exist. Slabs are likely to be reactive to human triggers and may avalanche naturally as meltwater continues to percolate deeper into the snowpack. South and east aspects will be especially dangerous because of the large wind slabs that already exist there. With the continued trend of above freezing temperatures and rain today, meltwater will have the opportunity to affect deeper layers within their structure. These wet slabs could be large enough to bury multiple people, damage trees and reach far into runout zones. It's difficult to predict the timing of instability with wet slab avalanches and therefore conservative decision making around avalanche terrain will be essential. Fog and clouds will limit visibility and make it challenging to effectively assess the overhead hazard. Use caution route-finding when traveling and limit your time on or under steep terrain today.

Avalanche Discussion

The summit of Mount Washington has been above freezing for the past 24 hours with rain, which has allowed meltwater to seep into the snowpack. Yesterday could have seen some natural avalanche activity, however this becomes more likely today with the prolonged warm temperatures and rain. Water will have the opportunity to impact deeper layers within the snow and in areas where old wind slabs still exist, the wet slab avalanche problem will become more sensitive.

Observations from Monday confirmed the upside down nature of the snowpack on eastern terrain. Stiff wind slabs had softer, unconsolidated snow layers beneath. With more meltwater today, these deeper, unconsolidated layers will likely be affected. Although this snowpack structure is more prominent on east and south facing slopes, there is the possibility that smaller wind slabs on west and north aspects still exist and will be getting saturated. Therefore, today’s avalanche problem is on all aspects above 3000 feet. 

Wet slab avalanches are difficult to predict and therefore need to be handled with an increased margin of safety. With the avalanche cycle from this past weekend, most avalanche paths are well established and avalanches today could run far into runout zones, including past Connection Rescue Cache and over the upper Gulf of Slides ski trail. Use conservative decision making and limit your time on or under steep slopes to help limit your exposure to the avalanche hazard today.

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