Nationally Consistent Provision of Avalanche Weather Information by the National Weather Service & National Avalanche Center

Snow avalanches pose a significant risk to people recreating in the backcountry and ski areas. They also create significant impacts to transportation, infrastructure, and waterways. Accurate and timely weather information is integral to effective avalanche forecasting at all scales. The National Weather Service (NWS), through the use of avalanche weather products, provides forecast information critical to avalanche forecasting operations across the mountainous regions of the United States.

This information is critical to core partners such as the United States Forest Service (USFS) Avalanche Centers, state and local departments of transportation, emergency managers, search and rescue operations, ski area snow safety teams, and other commercial and/or recreational entities.

As part of a joint partnership between the NWS and the USFS National Avalanche Center (NAC), a 2018 survey showed that there was a need to improve and more consistently deliver the suite of information flowing from the NWS to the Avalanche Centers. Although partnerships have existed between the NWS and the Avalanche Centers since as early as the 1970s, there were varying levels of support and integration. The survey suggested that the public would benefit from elevating all partnerships to a baseline level of service. This initiative was taken further in early 2020 when the National Avalanche Coordination Team (NACT) was formed, and a proposal to meet the stated goal of “standardizing, expanding, and providing consistent service while elevating and helping partnerships mature” was finalized in late 2020.

Since the delivery of the proposal in late 2020, numerous advances have been made. This includes the development of a new operational Avalanche Weather Guidance product, the streamlining of the format and delivery of Special Avalanche Bulletins and Avalanche Watches and Warnings, the development of consistent Avalanche Weather Web Pages, the development of joint outreach and awareness content between the two agencies, and the socialization and documentation of best practices for messaging and communicating, providing decision support services, and for providing outreach and education. This presentation will showcase advances in the suite of services provided for avalanche weather support and demonstrate successful cross-agency collaboration to deliver decision support services.