Huntington Ravine has LOW avalanche danger today. Natural avalanches are very unlikely and human triggered avalanches are unlikely except in isolated pockets. Normal caution is advised.

After being punched by yesterday's brief cold snap we are back to temperatures a little more conducive to being outside. We have warmed up considerably over the past 24 hours on the summit by rising 35 degrees F from -31F (-35C) to 4F (-16C). Maximum winds hit a peak from the NW at 111mph (178kph)yesterday morning. A brief period of loading resulted with these high winds and did bring some additional loading to the Ravines. This hasn't affected much besides bumping the Lip in Tuckerman up a rating to Moderate. The most notable snowpack related topic we are watching is the crust that encapsulated the mountain earlier in the week. A steep temperature gradient over the past 48 hours has formed rapid faceting beneath the crust. These facets are growing through vapor movement from below the crust and through robbing it of it's own moisture. This is currently doing 2 things we will be watching. First it's developing an increasingly weak layer under the crust and second is weakening the tensile strength of the crust to support load from above. This tensile strength may become so weak there is a remote potential for a human trigger to actually avalanche the crust itself. This could be a problem if it knocks you off your feet in a compromising location. This weakening will also become a concern with another 24 hours of facet growth and the snow coming in tomorrow and Saturday. Snow is expected to come in on light WSW winds and increase while wrapping to the NW through the day. If this occurs I would expect a light density soft slab or unconsolidated snow to be loaded with an increasingly dense slab over it through day light hours. This may place slabs with a higher degree of elastic energy and fracture propagation potential over several potential weak layers. The weak layers to watch should be the light density new snow itself, the interface with the icy crust where it's exposed and not already buried, and the increasing weak facets beneath the crust. To add a little more complexity to this is the variability of our current snow surface. There are a number of areas that already have some new snow sitting on crust that fell and loaded since Monday's sleet/ice pellet event that formed the icy layer. These locations should have slower facet growth due to a more diminished temperature gradient and will offer better adhesion for new snow. So the key element here is the new loading snow on Friday and Saturday depositing over different surface conditions creating for a great degree of spatial variability (aka-different conditions) from location to location. I know this was all a lot to soak in so we will focus in a bit tomorrow as the weather system becomes clearer and facets have another 24 hours to do their thing. The good news is snow is on the way with 3-6 inches (7.5-15cm) forecasted with upwards of .6" (1.5cm) of water. But as last week's weather event taught all of us in the weather business Mother Nature doesn't always comply with what we say she will do. This is what makes it so interesting, compelling, vexing and motivating to figure her out. Another weather item to watch is the dropping temperatures through the day on Saturday sending the summit back deep into the negatives for the overnight.

The Lion Head Summer Trail is still open. The Summer Trail crosses an avalanche prone slope that has not developed as of yet. The Winter Route is not built for travel without adequate snow cover, so although we are in winter, please help keep the Winter Route in good shape by using the Summer Trail.