Snow, Weather and Avalanche Resources
Glossaries
-
Snow and Avalanche Glossary (need to know what a snow or avalanche related term means? Check out this handy reference)
-
Mountain Weather Glossary (definitions of most of the terms used in the NWAC mountain weather forecast products can be found here)
Snowpack Resources
- Snowpack Info Exchange (Help others and yourself by viewing or leaving observations on Northwest snowpack stability or structure information. Whether ski, snowboard, snowshoe, boot or snowmobile is your preferred mode of travel, learn about the snowpack around you or leave your snowpack related observations)
- Snow profiles (View recent plotted snow profile information for specific NW locations. Please submit similar snowprofile info to nwac@nwac.us)
- Avalanche photos (View recent avalanches or stability related photos for specific NW locations. Please submit photos to nwac@nwac.us)
- Raw Weather Data and Select Forecast File Access (Access text versions of all mountain weather telemetry files and summary avalanche forecast files - ie. SABWA and SABOR. (These files should be essentially unchanged from previous versions of the same file name on the old web site...e.g. to access the weather station file for Snoqualmie Pass, enter http://www.nwac.us/data/OSOSNO). Note that as of late October, access to the summary avalanche forecast files on this link is a work in progress, but should be operational early in the season.)
Weather Resources
- Remote Weather Station Photos (Learn a little more about the NWAC Remote Weather Data Network)
- Climatological Snow Depth Data (comparison with normal) Updated twice monthly!
- Northwest Snowdepths--Average, Minimum and Maximum (plots of average seasonal snowpacks by area)
- Monthly Water Supply Forecasts (NRCS) (Water and snowpack data from the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Snotel system, updated monthly!)
- Seasonal Weather, Snowpack and Avalanche Summaries (NWAC Annual reports (pdf) that detail the past winter seasons with interesting facts, charts and descriptions of the season's evolution along with a review of NWAC operations)
- Ranking Northwest Snowpacks--unusually low snow winters (Is the current winter evolving too slowly for you? See if maybe you should be happy with it considering past winter history)
- NWAC Avalanche Weather Briefer (quick reference and links to graphical weather forecast products, both for short term and longer term forecasting and interpretation)
- Current Satellite Imagery (Quick link to the most recent and current satellite imagery courtesy NOAA)
- Climbing Condition Information for the Volcanoes (For those late spring, summer and fall outings when route, trail and road information is needed)
- Current and Recent NWAC Weather Data Graphs (Plots of NWAC mountain weather data, courtesy David Kantola)
-
Google Earth Display of NWAC Mountain Weather Data Network (To help understand specific mountain weather, take a virtual trip to the various NWAC mountain weather stations. To use this feature, you must have Google Earth installed)
Avalanche Resources
-
Field Forecasting (2003) (An outline of how best to update your idea of what's happening in the mountain, weather wise)
-
Non-Avalanche Related Snow Immersion Fatalities Paper (2006) (Paper describing the very serious and life-threatening problems associated with deep snow burial and possible suffocation)
-
Non-Avalanche Related Snow Immersion Fatalities Website (2006) (The web site dedicated to increasing awareness of the NARSID problem)