Snow, Weather, and Avalanches: Observational Guidelines for Avalanche Programs in the United States

This document was produced through the cooperative efforts of the American Avalanche Association (A3) and the Forest Service National Avalanche Center. Its creation involved a working group from a broad cross section of avalanche workers in the U.S. getting input from the general membership of A3 and cooperation from the Canadian Avalanche Association. The result is this working document that we expect to be updated every five to ten years.

This electronic copy is not printable, and is meant to be a resource for folks to check out the guidelines, view the contents, and do electronic searches. Bound hard copy of the document can be purchased through the American Avalanche Association at their virtual store. The additional forms and charts at the bottom of this page are printable.

For an article on the creation of this document (to be published in the 2004 Proceedings of the International Snow Science Workshop) click here.

The document:

Introduction - includes the Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - Manual Snow and Weather Observations

Chapter 2 - Snowpack Observations

Chapter 3 - Avalanche Observations

Glossary

Appendices - Appendix A (References), Appendix B (Units), Appendix C (Metadata), Appendix D (Observational sites for meteorological measurements), Appendix E (Part 1 and Part 2) (Automated weather stations), Appendix F (Part 1 and Part 2) (ICSI classification for seasonal snow cover on the ground), Appendix G (Avalanche danger, hazard, and snow stability scales), Appendix H (Reporting avalanche involvements), Appendix I (Symbols and abbreviations)

Additional Forms and Charts:

Avalanche accident reporting form (short form, electronic version, MS Word template)

Avalanche accident reporting form (long form, electronic version, MS Word template)

Avalanche data codes

Conversion charts

Sample datalogger programs

Snow profile forms

Additional resources:

The International Classification for Seasonal Snow on the Ground

Snow Symbol Fonts from the Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (SLF)