Wow there has been a ton of snow over the Pacific Northwest the past few days and this has prompted an AVALANCHE WARNING for most of the mountains in Western Washington state.

...AVALANCHE WARNING IN EFFECT FOR THE OLYMPICS...WASHINGTON
CASCADES...MT HOOD AREA THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT...

A MILD AND MOISTURE LADEN FRONTAL SYSTEM ARRIVING DURING THE DAY ON
THURSDAY SHOULD PRODUCE DANGEROUS AVALANCHE CONDITIONS FOR THE
OLYMPICS...CASCADES AND MT. HOOD AREA. THE SYSTEM SHOULD BEGIN WITH
STEADY SNOW AND TRANSITION TO DENSER SNOW AND EVEN RAIN FOR MANY
LOWER TO MID ELEVATIONS SITES BY THURSDAY AFTERNOON.

DENSER SNOW...INTENSE PRECIPITATION RATES AND RAINFALL WILL STRESS
THE UPPER PORTION OF THE SNOWPACK AND STRONGLY RAISE THE LIKELIHOOD
OF NATURAL AND HUMAN TRIGGERED AVALANCHES THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT.
LARGE CORNICES FORMED DURING THE MOST RECENT STORM CYCLE SHOULD
BECOME INCREASINGLY SENSITIVE AND PRONE TO FAIL. WHILE MOST
AVALANCHES SHOULD BE CONFINED TO THE STORM SNOW...SOME AVALANCHES
MAY BECOME LARGE AND ENTRAIN SNOW FROM THE PREVIOUS STORM CYCLE.

TRAVEL IN BACK COUNTRY AVALANCHE TERRAIN IS NOT RECOMMENDED THURSDAY
AND THURSDAY NIGHT.

The warning is in BLUE and is for tomorrow and tomorrow night. Here are some noted avalanche pics and events in the past.

1. The Blons Avalanches

In Blons, Austria on a January morning in 1954, an avalanche buried 118 people. As rescue workers attempted to dig them out, a second, unexpected avalanche descended upon the town. The final death count numbered 200.

2. Italian-Austrian Alps

During World War II, Italy and Austria had military bases in the Alps – soon finding that bombs and enemy fire weren't the only threats. Heavy snow instigated a series of avalanches in the Tyrol region causing the deaths of 10,000 soldiers on what became known as White Friday 1916.