New Feature: Avy Observations
Display reported avalanche occurrences directly in your map with the new Avy Observations overlay.
We’re thrilled to introduce the Avy Observations overlay! This tool displays reported avalanche occurrences from participating avalanche forecast centers directly in your CalTopo map. Now, you can visualize recent and past avalanche reports in an area alongside all your other mapping data, helping you to make more informed decisions before heading into the mountains.
See Avalanche Activity Where It Matters Most
Understanding current snowpack conditions is critical when traveling in avalanche terrain. Developed in close partnership with the USDA Forest Service National Avalanche Center (NAC) and the American Avalanche Association (A3), this overlay displays reported avalanche occurrences from the Avalanche Forecast Platform (AFP) on avalanche.org. These reports come from the professional forecasters and observers as well as the public and can provide valuable real-world insights to incorporate into your planning.
Please note: currently we only display avalanche occurrences from avalanche forecast centers that provide their data to AFP. For a complete list of avalanche forecast centers that are part of this overlay, click or tap the “Avy Observations Info” at the bottom of the map viewer when displaying the Avy Observations overlay.
The Power of Integrating Avy Observations
Viewing Avy Observations with Global Imagery in 3D can provide valuable insight into the type of terrain where avalanches were reported.
What makes this feature so valuable? The ability to view avalanche occurrences alongside all your other mapping data. Here’s why that matters:
- Context Matters: Overlay Avy Observations with slope angle shading, recent satellite imagery, weather forecasts, and 3D to gain a more complete picture and better assess terrain risks.
- Plan with Confidence: Use real-world data from avalanche forecast centers to inform your route choices before heading into the field.
How It Works
Select the Avy Observations overlay in the Map Layers menu on the web or mobile app.
The Avy Observations overlay is available to all users. Turn on Avy Observations to instantly display reported avalanche occurrences in your map. Occurrences are represented by an avalanche icon that includes the location of the report, the destructive force of the avalanche, and the date of the report. Click or tap on an icon to bring up more information about the occurrence. We recommend clicking or tapping the “Avalanche Details” link at the bottom of the dialog to view the full report on the avalanche forecast center’s website.
This overlay is updated once per hour and you can filter reports by date range to find the desired timeframe to inform your planning. To learn more about using the Avy Observations overlay, visit our user guide.
Check It Out
The Avy Observations overlay is now live for all CalTopo users on the web and version 1.18 and later of the mobile app. To start using it, simply select the overlay in the Map Layers menu and explore the latest avalanche reports in a region. For obvious reasons, you need a data connection to use the layer.
This is just one more way CalTopo helps you stay informed, make better decisions, and travel safely in the backcountry. Try it out today and let us know what you think below.
This is pretty awesome! For Colorado it is only showing observations from the Crested Butte Avy Center. Is it possible to get obs for the rest of the state? thanks.
The Colorado Avalanche Information Center does not currently provide that data to the Avalanche Forecast Platform. We’d love to include that information as it becomes available- feel free to reach out to the CAIC and ask for it if you’d like to see it included!
Hey Megan/ CalTopo! This is super rad. Who would you recommend talking to at CAIC about getting CO on the train?
Glad to hear you are stoked! And it is probably best to start with their public contact form: https://avalanche.state.co.us/contact.
Love this new addition! But… I can’t get it to work on my phone. I have version 1.18 but can’t get any avy info to load at any zoom level or on any base map, even if I choose “all time” avalanches to make sure there have been some in the areas I’m looking at. Is there something I’m missing to get this layer to work for me?
What area are you viewing? There are a couple forecast centers that aren’t part of the overlay yet, although we hope to include them in the future if they start providing that data to the Avalanche Forecast Platform.
HI Meghan. It looks like you answered my question above. I am looking at the Northern and Central Rockies that the CAIC covers.
Any plans to include Canadian areas?
Not yet, although we would love to include Canadian areas in the future. If Canadian data gets added to the current API we’re using (AFP), we will show it automatically. However we aren’t aware of any plans to do that or a Canadian API that would allow us to bring in that data specifically.
Stellar new feature! Data freshness seems reasonable at once per hour.
Comments/suggestions:
1. Some of the Avy Observations date range dropdown options seem ambiguous to me.
– ‘Past week’: Does that mean the past week starting on Sunday, or on Monday? Or does it mean the past 7 days?
– ‘Past month’: If the current date is March 1, does that mean a single day in March? Or all of February? Or the past 30 days?
– ‘This season’: In the beginning of a season, I could imagine there being some confusion on whether or not the new season data is available/represented.
Would these be more clear/informative?
– Past 7 days
– Past 30 days
– 24-25 season
– 23-24 season
– 22-23 season
– All time
2. Avy Observations pop up detail windows have dates with no year (e.g. Avalanche on 2/25) when ‘Past Week’, ‘Past Month’, or ‘This Season’ is selected in the dropdown.
My opinion: excluding the year is unnecessary and introduces the potential for confusion. I suggest considering an unambiguous format like ‘2025 Mar 01’, regardless of which date dropdown option is selected. That would likely reduce a bit of code complexity as well.
Thanks for the detailed feedback! This is a new feature that we plan to continue to develop and we welcome any and all feedback on it. Glad to hear you find it useful overall though!
Thank you so much for adding this feature! I am curious if NWAC or COAVY are sharing information? I’m not seeing any data yet for the Crater Lake /Mt. Bailey area, but I do see one at Mt. Thielsen (2024) from Oregon Snowmobile Association- They will get my support!
Data should be available for both NWAC and COAVY. I just checked and saw data posted from the past week although it seems like there aren’t as many observations (which might explain why they seem like they aren’t showing up). Try filtering for the past month and you should see more observations populate the map. If you continue to have issues, send us an email at help@caltopo.com and we can look more into it.
Is this USA only, or are more areas supported?
Currently it is only US areas that share their data with the Avalanche Forecast Platform. We hope to expand it in the future if more areas become available.