Weather forecasting has radically transformed over the past century. In the 1920s, field observers reported current weather conditions back to meteorologists, who would draw up weather maps and extrapolate the weather for the next few days. Fast forward 100 years and precise forecasts are possible in mountainous terrain thanks to a global network of earth observations, advances in scientific understanding, and some of the most powerful supercomputers in the world. This raises the question, will avalanche forecasting head down a similar transition from field-based to computer-based work? This article summaries Simon’s perspective on this interesting question.

Click here to access our article. You can access the entire issue of the Avalanche Journal of the Canadian Avalanche Association at https://issuu.com/theavalanchejournal/docs/caj_vol123.