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.

Rain and record breaking temperatures hammered our snowpack into brutal submission yesterday. Huntington was brought to its knees and gave away the majority of the paltry snow it was struggling to keep. As an example of how slim things have become Central now has a number of rock moves to get to the ice bulge. Tuckerman having more snow to begin with isn't as bad, but did change substantially. The main waterfall and other streams coming over the Headwall ate away snow from the top down. They also caused the bottom of the open book to open up and relieve the hydraulic pressure building due to water volume. The summit received a total of .87" (2.2cm) of water for the event over the past 30 hours which included 1.1" (2.8cm) of snow as the front moved through last night. As cold air streams in we're getting back into winter weather with the summit dropping to its current temperature of 13F (-10C). The liquid water and the freeze up are combining to lock the existing snowpack up from the surface down. This has caused the snowpack to stabilize very quickly so the only snow concern will be a small isolated pocket that may develop this morning with the new snowfall since the rain. This is a minor concern, but don't ignore any clues you may witness in the field. One snow related issue that needs to be watched is undermining. Running water ate away at the snowpack from the bottom up in many areas causing thin bridges of snow that may collapse under body weight. This is particularly true near rock and ice formations that had more water flow or were releasing more heat. This is a big concern for the ice climber that is trying to link together terrain features to execute their climb. Climbers should also expect ideal conditions for dangerous ice dams to develop. This occurs when quickly forming ice traps water behind it increasing pressure that can be released in an explosive fashion with a swing of the tool or crampon. Generally travel will be very challenging due to slick conditions underfoot until we get enough snow to pack in over it. Crampons and ski poles may be very helpful in most areas.

The next weather maker will move in during the early morning tomorrow and should deliver a good shot of moisture for 24 hours into Tuesday morning. The models are producing numbers over 1" (2.5cm) of water equivalent. We will get snow in the upper elevations with some mixing going on as you move down the terrain. The avalanche start zones between 5500 and 4000 ft may see numerous types of precipitation which we'll address with more clarity tomorrow morning. This does look like it could the most significant snow event we have seen in a while, but we've got to find a little bit more cold air. We may see boom or bust based on just a few degrees so keep your fingers crossed.

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