Avalanche forecast

Whitefish Range

Flathead Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Sun
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
2 · Moderate
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Out of date — this forecast expired last year. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

Heavy snowfall and wind have created dangerous avalanche conditions in the southern part of the Whitefish Range. You will likely trigger a slab avalanche on steep slopes, especially wind-loaded ones. Enjoy the great powder on low-angle slopes not connected to steeper terrain. 

There is an AVALANCHE WARNING  for Glacier Park, the Flathead, and the Swan Range, where more snow fell.

Avalanche problems

  • Storm Slabs

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

    Heavy snowfall overnight built fresh slabs that today's snow and wind will thicken. These features will be more dangerous and widespread on wind-loaded slopes. New snow is falling on various surfaces, including graupel and an upside-down surface, which may add to instability. You could likely trigger a slide in both sheltered and wind-affected terrain. 

    Look for signs of instability, like cracking or collapsing in the surface snow, which indicates you have found a sensitive slab. Today's blowing snow and fresh cornice formation will point toward areas with a higher hazard. 

    Keep your choices conservative to mitigate today's storm slab problem. Enjoy the fresh powder on low-angle slopes with runouts free of surface obstacles that could magnify the consequences of getting caught in a slide. 

    Fresh cornices will continue building through the day. These features often break back further than anticipated, triggering a surface slide on the slopes below. Stay out from under cornice lines and remain far from the edge while traveling ridgelines. You will likely trigger sluffs on steep slopes in locations without a surface slab.  Manage your sluff and minimize the consequences of getting caught by avoiding slopes ending in terrain traps where the snow can pile up deep. 

    (12/28/2024)

    This is the crown of a skier-triggered soft slab in the Canyon Creek area, just outside the boundary of WMR from earlier this season. As new snow stacks up during the day, the likelihood that a rider could trigger one of these increases. 

  • Persistent Slabs

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

    Buried weak layers susceptible to loading are found on slopes facing NW-NE-SE. Today's fresh snow and wind add weight and increase the chance of a natural or human-triggered large avalanche.  The most likely locations are where the weak layer is close to the surface, such as slopes where the wind frequently blows and leaves a variable slab thickness. Steep, rocky terrain is a good example of where this could occur.

    Digging is the only way to identify if the slope you are on contains weak snow capable of producing a destructive avalanche. The best solution is to choose low-angle slopes not connected to steep slopes.

     

    (3/10/2025)

    Although unlikely, there remains a chance a large avalanche failing on buried weak layers could occur. These will mainly be limited to steep, rocky terrain.

    Photo: Michael Reavis

  • Loose Dry

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

    All zones across the forecast area have recorded substantial snow overnight. Snow will continue to stack up today. You will likely trigger sluffs on steep slopes in locations without a surface slab.  At lower elevations, the sluffs may involve wet snow. Manage your sluff and minimize the consequences of getting caught by avoiding slopes ending in terrain traps where the snow can pile up deep. 

Avalanche Discussion

A potent Pacific storm arrived overnight, dropping over 1 inch of SWE (Snow Water Equivalent) in the Swan Range, southern and central Glacier Park. Ongoing snowfall and continuing wind have raised the danger to HIGH, and we have issued an AVALANCHE WARNING for the Swan and Flathead/Glacier Park zones. We do not recommend traveling in or beneath avalanche terrain today. Impressive Precipitation Intensity overnight likely resulted in a natural avalanche cycle. An example is 1 inch of SWE recorded at Noisy Basin in the 6 hours between 6 p.m. and midnight. 

The southern Whitefish Range did well, with more than 6 inches of snow overnight and more on the way. Further north, the Stahl Peak and Stryker Ridge stations received the least precipitation throughout the forecast area, with just a few inches of snow. The hazard in this range is CONSIDERABLE around WMR and decreasing as you move north.

Telefestivus is here! Come to Blacktail Ski Area on Saturday, March 22, and Sunday, March 23 to check out the latest and greatest in telemark skiing. Afterward, Tamarack Brewing will host a fundraiser with a raffle and film for the Friends of the Flathead Avalanche Center from 5 to 8 PM Saturday, March 23. 

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