Avalanche forecast

Flathead Range & Glacier NP

Flathead Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Mon
Alpine
1 · Low
Treeline
1 · Low
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

The snowpack is generally stable, and triggering a large avalanche is unlikely. You could find thin slabs of wind-blown snow near the highest ridgelines and summits reactive to the weight of your skis or machine. Today's sunshine may warm and wet the surface, potentially triggering small, loose snow avalanches in steep terrain facing the sun. 

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

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

    Light snowfall and gusty southwest winds drifted snow into thin slabs at the tail end of the Atmospheric River. They will be larger and thicker just downwind of the higher-elevation ridgelines, saddles, and summits. 

    These features will have a dune-shaped appearance and may sound hollow. In some areas, they may be sufficiently dense to support the weight of a rider or a machine. The recent warm weather has likely strengthened these features, but if you notice cracks shooting away from your skis or machine, you have found a sensitive slab. 

    Upper-elevation slopes that have not been affected by wind will provide a softer, safer experience.

Avalanche Discussion

This morning, we dropped the avalanche hazard to LOW for the first time this season. We are comfortable reducing the danger rating after a historic week of warm weather and heavy precipitation tested our early-season snowpack. 

Although triggering a large slide is unlikely, riders should not let their guard down. 

  • Today's sunshine may warm the surface of recently fallen snow and trigger small wet-snow instabilities. Resulting slides will be larger in long-running gullies and on steep, sustained pitches where the most recent snow fell. These sluffs may run surprisingly far on the stout underlying crust. Yesterday (Saturday), a party on Hellroaring Peak triggered rollerballs and small wet loose slides on steep slopes in Friday's 2 inches of new snow. Mitigate this problem by managing your sluff or moving to a shady aspect if you find the surface becoming gloppy. 
  • Traveling at mid elevations remains treacherous in places due to a breakable crust or slide for life conditions. 

With a day of benign weather on tap, let's look at a few key weather statistics related to the recent Atmospheric River.

  • The Grave Creek SNOTEL station in the northern Whitefish Range recorded 8.6 inches of liquid water (rain) in just under 4 days. 5.6 inches of this fell in 24 hours.
  • The Middle Fork of the Flathead River at the USGS West Glacier gauge rose from 1040 cubic feet per second (cfs) on Monday morning to 20,700 cfs on Thursday. This flow was over 18 times more than Monday’s reading. Thursday’s reading was higher than any day during the spring 2025 runoff.
  • Above-average temperatures were recorded throughout the event across all elevations and ranges. Please see this chart, which documents balmy 0500 temperatures on Thursday morning when valley-floor temperatures topped 50°F and upper elevations were above freezing.
  • Windy conditions developed, including a 24-hour average wind speed of 47 mph with a maximum gust of 80 mph at Aeneas Ridge. Both of these numbers are well above the extreme or gale-force classification.

Regions covered