All areas in Huntington Ravine have CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger today. Natural avalanches are possible and human triggered avalanches are probable. Unstable slabs are probable on steep terrain. Be increasingly cautious in steeper terrain.

I felt like I was ascending into a tropical rain forest this morning as I made my way to Hermit Lake. Warm air is flowing down the mountain and penetrating into the valleys. The current temperature at Hermit Lake is 10 C (50F). I am sorry that is not a typo. It feels like a nice day for rock climbing or beach lounging. The warm air is meeting a winter snowpack rather quickly and this raises stability concerns. If you have been keeping up on the advisories you know that we have had slabs on a variety of aspects sitting on a crust layer. These slabs were cold and are now being rapidly warmed by this bizarre air. Snow does not like rapid changes therefore there is a possibility of natural avalanche activity today on all aspects today as a result of the rapid warm up. The warm air is breaking down bonds between snow grains and melting snow, which generates free water in the slabs. While long term this would help stabilize the snow, it is currently making adjustments to its new environment and may be unstable during this process. Existing slabs vary in size. Some areas have pockets that may release today while other areas, like the Bowl, Lip and Sluice, have large snowfields that could produce large avalanches. It is difficult to know exactly when the breaking point between stress and strength will occur. With that in mind, it would be wise to stay out of avalanche terrain until things settle out. It looks like that won't be until Saturday.

Tomorrow's weather will compliment today's weather nicely. Some models are indicating as much as 3.8 cm (1.5") of rain tomorrow. This amount of rain will probably cause avalanches to occur in a variety of areas. Expect HIGH avalanche danger ratings tomorrow. A cold front will push out this precipitation on Friday night and we will see the temperature drop well below freezing. At this point it looks like the mountains could be encrusted in ice by Saturday and travel conditions may be tricky. Be sure to check the latest advisory before heading out this weekend.

Be aware of the potential for falling ice over the next couple of days. Falling ice is a hazard on its own and could also trigger avalanches.

THE LION HEAD WINTER ROUTE IS OPEN. Mountaineering skills and equipment are required for safe travel on this route. The John Sherburne Ski Trail has improved with recent snow. You should still expect hidden hazards in the form of turf, rocks, bushes and deep waterbars lurking under the new snow cover. More surprises will be appearing over the next couple of days with warm weather and rain.

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.