Avalanche forecast

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Sawtooth Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Thu
Alpine
4 · High
Treeline
4 · High
Below
3 · Considerable
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Out of date — this forecast expired 7 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

Very dangerous avalanche conditions exist. Avoid all steep slopes and the areas beneath them. The combination of wind and 10-20 inches of new snow makes destructive, natural and human-triggered avalanches very likely. Recognize you could trigger avalanches remotely from gentle or flat terrain above, to the side, or from below steeper slopes.

The backcountry Avalanche Warning does not apply to the HWY 21 avalanche program.

Avalanche problems

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Very Likely
    Size
    2–3

    Snowfall and wind-drifting will overload multiple weak layers buried 1-2 feet deep in the snowpack. Both natural and human-triggered avalanches will become larger and more likely as the storm progresses. Some avalanches could be 3-6 feet thick and hundreds of feet wide.  

    Stay off of and out from beneath all steep slopes. Terrible visibility will make it nearly impossible to see what’s above you, or even in front of you. Slides may be triggered from a distance – including from the sides or below a slope.

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Very Likely
    Size
    2–3

    The combination of strong winds and heavy snowfall will make natural and human-triggered avalanches very likely on all slopes, including those with no glaring, buried weak layers. The wind slabs will increase in size and become widespread in middle and upper elevation terrain today. Expect to find soft and hard slabs both near ridges and lower on slopes. At lower elevations, large drifts and wind slabs will be more isolated. Avoid avalanche terrain. 

Avalanche Discussion

An Avalanche Warning is in effect. Heavy snowfall and wind are combining to overload a weak snowpack. Widespread avalanching will occur. Very dangerous avalanche conditions exist. Stay off of and out from below steep slopes—slopes steeper than about 30 degrees. 

The backcountry Avalanche Warning does not apply to the HWY 21 avalanche program.

Regions covered