Avalanche Watch and Warning criteria

You've likely noticed, and many have asked us, what's an avalanche warning all about? The purpose of an avalanche warning is to save lives by alerting the public when avalanches are certain or very likely in many areas and when unusually dangerous avalanche conditions exist. Those of you who read our advisory regularly probably don't need to see an avalanche warning to know when unusually dangerous avalanche conditions are developing.
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Philbrick Photography

Early winter in the high country

Winter came early this year with almost 110” of snow on the summit before December rolled around. Skiers and riders enjoyed the deep soft snow, while warmer temperatures at lower elevations didn’t keep ice climbers happy. Typically, climbers can find an early season fix on ice in Tuckerman and Huntington but all the new snow made for particularly unenjoyable postholing to reach climbing objectives.
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The Evolution of Mount Washington Avalanche Center Forecasts

As those who attended ESAW and recent MWAC outreach events have heard, our forecast zones are changing this year. The primary drivers of this change are changing use patterns, a desire to be consist with the use of North American avalanche danger scale (and other forecast center messaging), and a desire to provide information to folks venturing into other aspects and elevations around the area. Beginning this year, we will provide an avalanche forecast for most of the Northern Presidential Range.
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Meet your ESAW Presenters: Julie Leblanc

Fellow avalanche forecaster Julie Leblanc comes to us from north of the border and Avalanche Quebec. Serving the Chic-Choc Mountains of Quebec’s Gaspe Peninsula, Avalanche Quebec is the only avalanche center in eastern Canada. For those counting, that makes two in eastern North America when combined with the Mount Washington Avalanche Center.
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Meet your ESAW presenters: Dr. Elizabeth Burakowski

We’re happy to introduce Dr. Elizabeth Burakowski, coming to ESAW from the University of New Hampshire’s Earth Systems Research Center and Institute for the study of Earth, Oceans, and Space. She will enlighten us on one of her primary projects, Citizen Science Snow Observations. Dr. Burakowski is a climate scientist who uses climate modeling, remote sensing, and ground observations to investigate the interactions among land cover, land use, climate, and society. Accordingly, Liz will also help us understand regional impacts of climate change.
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Meet Your ESAW Presenters: Dr. Sam Colbeck

From nearby Lyme, NH, we are pleased to welcome Sam Colbeck back to the Eastern Snow and Avalanche Workshop. Sam is an Emeritus Researcher and former Senior Research Scientist at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) in Hanover NH.
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