Presidential Range

Warming yesterday followed by a refreeze last night has reduced avalanche risk at all elevations. Today, a firm surface may increase sliding-fall potential. Avalanche danger will rise tomorrow as new snow and wind arrive with the incoming storm.

The forecast area caught a break yesterday. Temperatures briefly rose above freezing on the summits, but only marginally, and the expected precipitation underperformed significantly. While roughly 0.30" of liquid was forecast, only about 0.04" was observed. As a result, the snowpack was likely spared significant melt and runoff. That said, some wetting did occur in the upper snowpack, and with temperatures now back below freezing, we expect a refrozen surface with a melt-freeze crust. Depending on how deeply free water penetrated, there may still be dry snow and/or dry layers not far below the refrozen upper portion. Overall, this wetting followed by refreeze will add meaningful stability to the recent wind slab surface problems by strengthening the near-surface structure and locking up yesterday’s wetting.While the surface structure should be more stable after the refreeze, we have been tracking two distinct crusts in the snowpack: the 12/19 melt-freeze crust and the 12/29 crust. At times, snow stability tests have produced failures on one or the other of these interfaces. These layers likely still exist, and where dry snow remains in proximity they may continue to act as weak layers with future loading. Which leads the discussion to tomorrow.

Avalanche danger will rise late tonight and tomorrow as snow arrives with two passing low pressure systems. By late Sunday, 4-7 inches of new snow is possible, and strong winds will quickly begin building slabs in lee terrain. If southeast winds shift to west early, the eastern ravines could see a sharp increase in avalanche hazard. As it looks now, Sunday morning we'll be thinking about a wind slab avalanche problem, with rapidly changing conditions as snowfall and wind loading increase through the day. Snowpack Summary December 1, 2025 - January 7, 2026

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(1/6/2026)

We have been tracking two distinct crusts in the snowpack: the 12/19 melt-freeze crust and the 12/29 crust. At times, snow stability tests have produced failures on one or the other of these interfaces. These layers likely still exist, and where dry snow remains in proximity they may continue to act as weak layers with future loading.

Photo: Mount Washington Avalanche Center