Avalanche forecast

Flathead Range & Glacier NP

Flathead Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Fri
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
2 · Moderate
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Out of date — this forecast expired 6 months ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

Good and safe riding exists in terrain sheltered from the wind that is far away from steep slopes. Strong southwest winds are transporting snow onto a dangerous snowpack. It is still easy to trigger a deadly avalanche while traveling on or near steep slopes. 

Avalanche problems

  • Persistent Slabs

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

    Triggering a deadly avalanche is likely. Wind-transported snow will stress buried weak layers today. Remotely triggered avalanches are common. These are the conditions where you can trigger a slope from the flats below and have an avalanche come crashing down on top of you.

    We strongly recommend avoiding steep terrain altogether. This includes small slopes or slopes that you may perceive as “anchored” with vegetation. The slab is stiff enough that a triggered avalanche can pull back onto slopes with relatively lower slope angles.

    Signs of unstable snow may become fewer as the wind hardens the snow surface. Don’t let this lure you into steep terrain. We have had 6 people caught, carried, partially or fully buried in the past couple of weeks. The evidence is clear: do not trust the snowpack.

    (2/22/2026) 

    A rider looking up at a large avalanche in a logging unit. This avalanche came crashing down into a stand of timber. 

  • Wind Slabs

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

    Strong southwest and west winds have been at work for the past 24 hours. Strong winds will continue for the next couple of days. Expect to find hard wind slabs along ridge crests. Slabs will be thicker and more dangerous in areas that received more recent snow. Those places are the Flathead Range, the northern Whitefish Range, and the southern end of the forecast zone in the Swan Range. In areas that did not receive much measurable recent snow, expect a relatively benign wind slab problem.

    Blowing snow will be a clue to where this problem exists. Other visual clues are dune-shaped drifts or wind-textured surfaces. Winds are blowing at speeds strong enough to strip ridgelines and form hard slabs of drifted snow downwind of ridges and gullies.

    The biggest concern we have right now is a person triggering a small wind slab that steps down to a buried weak layer, causing a deadly avalanche. Your best and safest riding will be on low-angle slopes out of the wind.  

    (12/7/2025)

    Common example of windloaded terrain along the Continental Divide from strong West winds with snow available for transport. 

    Photo: Michael Reavis

Avalanche Discussion

Strong southwest winds continue to drive changing conditions. Expect to find hard slabs of drifted snow along ridges. Winds this strong can drift snow further down the slope than you expect, potentially catching you off guard. Although winds are driving the changing conditions, the bigger issue is what's deeper in the snowpack.

An untrustworthy layer exists 2 to 4+ feet down. It has been just as easy to trigger avalanches at the beginning of February as it is at the end of February. The scary part of this is that the avalanches are now much thicker and more dangerous. Aside from one slide triggered on a south-facing slope, all of our reported avalanche activity on buried weak layers occurred on north, northeast, east, and southeast-facing slopes. Those aspects are the most dangerous. Buried weak layers exist on south and west aspects in various parts of the forecast region. I’d strongly recommend digging on those aspects to see if the structure exists before considering to ride steep slopes that tilt south and west.

Regions covered