NEW OBSERVATION GUIDELINES FOR AVALANCHE PROGRAMS IN THE UNITED STATES

13 ABSTRACT: For over 35 years avalanche workers in the United States used observations described on "the blue and green sheets" published by the USDA Forest Service for standard snow, weather and avalanche observations. Those observation outlines served the U.S. avalanche community well and produced a valuable long-term data set. However, a new and updated set of guidelines are now needed since the blue and green sheets are out of print, and the number, types and needs of avalanche programs in the U.S. have changed. The American Avalanche Association and the USDA Forest Service National Avalanche Center joined forces to research, write and publish a new set of observational guidelines to support avalanche programs in the United States. This effort began by licensing the Canadian Avalanche Association's Observational Guidelines and Recording Standards for Weather, Snowpack, and Avalanches. This well- established document along with the blue and green sheets formed a solid foundation for the new guidelines, which were specifically developed to fit the diverse needs of avalanche programs in the U.S. The resulting document, Snow, Weather, and Avalanches: Observational Guidelines for Avalanche Programs in the United States, was published by the American Avalanche Association in the fall of 2004.