Avalanche forecast

Presidential Range

Mount Washington Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Sun
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
No rating
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Highlights

You could trigger an avalanche today in steep terrain where the wind has formed deep drifts of new snow. Careful snow evaluation is critical for safe travel in avalanche terrain. Watch out for snow blowing at the ridgelines, cracking in the snow under your feet, and deep snow drifts in gullies and rollovers as signs of a dangerous avalanche problem.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

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

    You could find and trigger a wind slab avalanche today on all aspects above 3000 feet in elevation. The size of these avalanches have the capability to bury or kill a person. Use extra caution near terrain traps, like narrow or deep gullies, where depth of avalanche debris is concentrated to a single, deep area.  

    In many areas, wind slab distribution is variable, patchy, and adjacent to old and icy snow surfaces. This should make identifying fresh, white wind slabs relatively easy against the gray, textured old snow surface. Wind slabs may be stubborn in sensitivity and not give immediate signs of weakness or instability. Remember that ski tracks or boot tracks on a snow slope DO NOT guarantee the slope is stable or safe. Use strategic route finding to move around features of concern or avoid terrain traps. 

    Watch out for increasing winds and additional snowfall to create new wind slabs on south-facing slopes today. Blowing snow at the ridgelines and newly formed snow drifts are signs that new wind slabs could be forming and could avalanche from the weight of a person. Naturally occurring avalanches are unlikely but not impossible.

Avalanche Discussion

Expect today’s avalanche problem to be variable based on your location, aspect (direction), elevation, and time of day. Careful terrain evaluation, constant stability assessments, and good terrain management will all be important for traveling safely in avalanche terrain today. 

In many areas, observers are finding new wind slabs of varying depths that have had some time to settle and bond to the old snow surface.  Though obvious signs of instability have not been reported, it’s important to remember that the variable distribution of wind slab location and depth mean that it is possible to find areas of an unstable or dangerous snowpack. Thicker wind slabs have been seen in deep gullies (terrain traps), where the shelter from the wind and the depression in the terrain has allowed for the snow to more easily collect. Triggering an avalanche in one of these areas could have devastating consequences. 

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. 

Help avalanche researchers! The Colorado Avalanche Information Center, the Avalanche Research Program at Simon Fraser University, and the U.S. National Science Foundation National Center for Atmospheric Research are researching how skiers, snowmobilers, snowshoers, ice climbers, and anyone else who travels in the backcountry interpret avalanche forecast information. Completing this survey will take approximately 20 minutes. Thank you!

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