Avalanche forecast

Presidential Range

Mount Washington Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Wed
Alpine
1 · Low
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
No rating
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Highlights

You could trigger an avalanche in wind drifted snow on steep east-facing and south-facing slopes above 3000 feet of elevation. Evaluate the snowpack carefully and travel on wind-scoured or wind-textured surfaces to help reduce your risk to this hazard.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

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

    What and where is it: Wind slabs formed from the January 19th storm could be found on steep slopes above 3000 feet in elevation. Although most will probably be small, some may be large enough to bury you. The most likely places to find these are in wind sheltered areas that face east and south, like behind cliffs and below ridgelines, where snow has drifted rather than scoured. 

    Older, deeper wind slabs could be found in steep, isolated slopes above 3000 feet in elevation, that face east and south. These most likely will be stubborn to trigger, but have the potential to be large and could bury you or your partner.

    How can you recognize it: Pockets of drifted snow that look pillowy and smooth compared to wind textured snow around it, will be the best indicator. If you are finding softer snow or shooting cracks under your feet, you have found the new wind slab problem.

    Isolated, deeper wind slabs will be more challenging to identify and will require digging into the snowpack. Be suspicious of areas that appear planar and look for buried layers of soft snow sitting on top of much harder layers within the snowpack. 

    How can you manage it: Choose travel routes carefully and travel strategically to limit your chance of triggering or being caught in an avalanche. Traveling on a hard, textured snow surface can help to minimize exposure to the avalanche hazard. Consider the actions of other people above you and the potential consequences of triggering even a small avalanche with many exposed rocks, ice, and terrain traps below.

Avalanche Discussion

In the last 24 hours, the summit of Mount Washington had over 12 hours of northwest winds averaging over 60 mph. This scoured the upper elevations and windward areas and redistributed the light density snow into sheltered east-facing and south-facing slopes. Although there is a possibility of finding sensitive, soft wind slabs, the problem will likely be isolated to sheltered areas in the terrain and more stubborn to trigger. 

Something that should be on your radar today with sub-zero temperatures is an old, hard-slab, deeper in the snowpack. Observations (Obs 1, Obs 2, Obs 3) have shown a similar profile for a hard-over-weak structure in isolated south-east facing terrain. Yesterday, a natural avalanche in GOS may have stepped down into deeper weak layers in the snowpack. This problem will be difficult to identify and stubborn to react unless digging into the snowpack. If newer wind slab releases, there is the possibility that it could trigger these deeper slabs and create a much larger avalanche. Use careful snowpack assessment and cautious route finding to help minimize your exposure to this hazard.

OBSERVATIONS: Please consider submitting an observation of what you are seeing in your travels. Submitting an observation hones your skills, informs other users, and improves our forecasts.

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