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Mountain safety

Pick where you are heading and see what the official page says about thunderstorms and avalanche bulletins, with the link to open on the day.

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Check the official warnings before you go. This is a summary of what each body's own page says, not safety advice, and it can be out of date.

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What the official pages say

  • Thunderstorms and lightning

    United States · National Weather Service

    • NWS: no place outside is safe when thunderstorms are in the area. If you hear thunder, lightning is close enough to strike you.
    • When you hear thunder, immediately move to safe shelter: a substantial building with electricity or plumbing, or an enclosed, metal-topped vehicle with windows up.
    • Stay in safe shelter at least 30 minutes after you hear the last sound of thunder.
    • If caught outside with no safe shelter nearby, NWS lists risk-reduction steps: get off elevated areas such as hills, mountain ridges or peaks; never lie flat on the ground; never shelter under an isolated tree; never use a cliff or rocky overhang for shelter.

    This is NWS's United States guidance. It does not give a time to turn back from a summit.

    Open the official pagehttps://www.weather.gov/safety/lightning-tips · Checked 2026-10-24 · official sourceAlso read: https://www.weather.gov/safety/lightning-safety

  • Avalanche forecasts

    United States · Avalanche.org (American Avalanche Association and US Forest Service National Avalanche Center)

    • Avalanche.org connects the public to avalanche information and education in the United States. It consolidates data from professional forecast centers to provide real-time avalanche information.
    • The North American Avalanche Danger Scale is a tool forecasters use to communicate the potential for avalanches to cause harm or injury to backcountry travelers.
    • Its Avalanche Encyclopedia lists the scale's five levels as Low, Moderate, Considerable, High and Extreme.

    We show no level for any area: open the forecast for your area on the day.

    Open the official pagehttps://avalanche.org/ · Checked 2026-10-24 · official sourceAlso read: https://avalanche.org/avalanche-encyclopedia/

  • Avalanche bulletin

    Switzerland · WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF

    • The bulletin primarily contains a forecast of avalanche danger in the Swiss Alps and Liechtenstein, issued one to two times a day in winter.
    • SLF says the bulletin cannot take the place of your own local on-site assessment: it is too general for that, because of the limited data it is based on.
    • Its recommendations for individuals outside secured areas are aimed especially at snow sports enthusiasts. It calls them recommendations, not rules.
    • “Conditions” in the bulletin refers solely to avalanche danger, not snow quantity, snow quality or weather.

    Open the official pagehttps://www.slf.ch/en/avalanche-bulletin-and-snow-situation/about-the-avalanche-bulletin/the-avalanche-bulletin/ · Checked 2026-10-24 · official source

  • Avalanche bulletin

    Iceland · Icelandic Met Office

    • A regional avalanche forecast with danger classified in 5 categories on the European scale. It is aimed towards backcountry travelers.
    • It is issued for three areas: Northern Westfjords, part of Tröllaskagi and the East fjords. It is generally published on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 16:00 and updated more often if needed.
    • It does not replace the assessment of individuals of conditions when travelling and sensible terrain selection.
    • The bulletin is general due to limited information and applies to a large area, so local avalanche danger may be in more areas than the bulletin describes.

    Only the three areas above are covered by this bulletin.

    Open the official pagehttps://en.vedur.is/avalanches/forecast/help · Checked 2026-10-24 · official source

  • Scottish avalanche information

    United Kingdom · Scottish Avalanche Information Service

    • Publishes avalanche information for the Scottish mountains, with area hazard summaries for Creag Meagaidh, Glencoe, Lochaber, the Northern Cairngorms, the Southern Cairngorms and Torridon.
    • When an area shows no hazard category, the page says to check the mountain info blogs for the latest conditions.

    On the day we read it every area showed no hazard category, so we show no level. Open the page on the day.

    Open the official pagehttps://www.sais.gov.uk/ · Checked 2026-10-24 · official source

  • Mountain weather forecasts

    United Kingdom · Mountain Weather Information Service

    • A team of professional meteorologists with experience in mountaineering produces forecasts for 10 UK mountain areas, 365 days a year.

    We read the About page only, not an area forecast.

    Open the official pagehttps://www.mwis.org.uk/information/about-us · Checked 2026-10-24 · official source

Not checked yet

  • Canada · Avalanche Canada forecasts

    The site did not show readable text in our reader, so we show nothing from it. This is the site's home page.

    Official page

Each card was read off the publisher's own page on 2026-10-24. Check the official warnings before you go. This is a summary of what each body's own page says, not safety advice, and it can be out of date.