Huntington Ravine is still under a General Avalanche Advisory. A General Advisory is issued when instabilities are isolated within the entire forecast area. However it's important to realize that avalanche activity may occur within these locations before the issuance of a 5-scale forecast. This is a critical fact to remember. Under a General Advisory you need to make your own avalanche stability assessments before venturing into any open slopes.

A lot could happen to snow stability today so be ready to pay attention and think about changing snow conditions while you are enduring very high winds and dropping temperatures. Currently all forecast areas have Low avalanche danger and the Considerable rating reflects what could happen to stability as new snow loads into the Ravine. If you looked at yesterday's stability rating and today's, they read the same, however, the situation is entirely different.

Mixed precipitation ended yesterday afternoon around 3pm on the Summit and temperatures have remained below freezing since then. This has allowed the slabs that were a concern yesterday to stabilize so any new instabilities will be in new wind slabs that form today. The important questions that will be answered through the course of the day today are: How much snow will we get and how well will it bond to the existing surface? Snow began to fall on the mountain around 5 am and it is expected to continue through the morning and into the early afternoon with the heaviest band expected early morning. The best estimate for snow totals on the Summit is 2-5" (5 to 12.7 cm). This will be accompanied by dropping temperatures and increasing winds that are expected to be out of the NW between 80 and 100 mph (129 to 160 kph) by the afternoon. These increasing winds will be loading new snow into the Ravines. With a crusty surface condition around the mountain, new snow may have a difficult time bonding in windward locations, however, I think it will be able to bond in lee areas, particularly in Tuckerman Ravine. Stability will be moving from Low, to Moderate and ultimately into Considerable if we receive the upper end of the forecasted amount of snow. If this system only deposits an inch or two we may never get to the Considerable rating today.

By now you should have refreshed your avalanche skills, installed some fresh high quality alkaline batteries in your avalanche beacon, and mastered its use. Don't forget your safe travel rules, techniques for assessing snow stability, and sign up for an avalanche course. Avalanche courses offered in the valley this winter are now on our website, tuckerman.org.