Observation: Other Regions

This lower elevation natural avalanche (crown face is at about
700′) failed all the way down to the ground. The most likely
trigger for this avalanche was rain-on-snow which can really
stress the snowpack much more than snow falling on top of snow.

This avalanche is an indication that the snowpack is reaching its
maximum tolerance in certain areas, especially at lower
elevations below 2000′. We might start to see some larger natural
avalanches occuring today 2/18/2010 due to the warm wet storm
being forecasted by the National Weather Service.