Huntington Ravine has CONSIDERABLE and HIGH avalanche danger. The Escape Hatch has Considerable avalanche danger. Natural avalanches are possible and human triggered avalanches are probable. Unstable slabs are probable in steep terrain. All other forecast areas in Huntington Ravine have High avalanche danger. Natural and human triggered avalanches are likely. Unstable slabs are likely on a variety of aspects and slope angles. Travel in avalanche terrain is not recommended.

Mother Nature is in the process of hitting the reset button in avalanche terrain. Today's weather forecast is calling for rain showers in the morning and then steady rain late this afternoon and into this evening. The higher summits could pick up 2 cm (.75") of rain or more before a cold front pushes out the moisture. Hermit Lake has already received 1.2 cm (.47") of rain this morning. This is the first warm spell and rain event our snowpack will have endured in quite a while. Yesterday, we had lingering cold slabs from various weather events sitting on a crust layer. In some areas there were early stage facets above the crust and in most areas there were more developed facets below the crust. Slabs varied in thickness and density, but the rain doesn't care what they look like or how tough the may think they are. As this storm progresses it will quickly warm up the slabs, add weight to them in the form of water, and the rain will erode bonds that have formed among the snow grains. Furthermore, the rain will percolate down through the slabs and hit the crust at some point. This will create a lubricating layer above the crust and/or erode through the crust exposing deeper instabilities. In short, we expect to see natural avalanche activity on most aspects from this event, especially later in the day when the bulk of the rain comes down. It seems like holiday shopping might actually be more fun than getting soaked in the mountains and exposing yourself to significant avalanche hazards.

As the approaching cold front moves in tonight, we will see strong winds (up to 160 kph or 100 mph) and falling temperatures. Once the rain ends and the temperatures fall back below freezing you can expect more stable snow conditions to prevail until our next weather maker moves in.

THE LION HEAD SUMMER TRAIL IS NOW CLOSED DUE TO THE AVALANCHE PRONE SLOPES JUST BELOW TREELINE. THE LION HEAD WINTER ROUTE IS OPEN. Mountaineering skills and equipment are required for safe travel on this route.

The John Sherburne Ski Trail is improving with every bit of snow we receive. You should still expect abrupt waterbars, bushes and rocks hidden under snow.

As always, this advisory is one more tool to help you make your own decisions in avalanche terrain. It should be used along with your own snow stability assessments, knowledge of safe travel techniques, skill in reading mountain weather's effect on the snowpack and avalanche rescue. To improve these skills take an avalanche course. We have all the avalanche courses offered in and around the Mt. Washington Valley this winter on our website, tuckerman.org.