BOISE, Idaho — The 911 call center in Blaine County reported a second avalanche struck a home Friday morning on War Eagle Drive -- no details of any injuries or extent of damage has been reported.
Then, a third avalanche at Broadford Road in Hailey was reported by the Blaine County Sheriff at 1:45 p.m.
Multiple roads were blocked in the northern part of Hailey, after the first avalanche early Friday morning.
A spokesperson for the Hailey Fire Department confirmed to KTVB that the first avalanche has not been cleared. Warm Springs Road is currently closed to all traffic.
According to the Blaine County Sheriff, the Big Wood River near River Trail Lane and Empty Saddle Road was blocked due to the avalanche Friday morning. Crews had to assess the best way to clear the 10-15 foot deep ice dam, without jeopardizing the safety of nearby homes or causing additional flooding.
The sheriff's office asked everyone to avoid the area until crews were able to clear the roads, and take caution after the third avalanche.
The US Forest Service's Sawtooth Avalanche Center rated the risk of avalanche in the Wood River Valley 'extreme' on Friday.
A storm hit the area Thursday night, piling on top of a snowpack of sugary, faceted snow.
"We've had a series of fairly large storms that were capped off by the largest of the storms - which was last night into this morning," Sawtooth Avalanche Center forecaster Ethan Davis said. "The new snow that fell last night simply can't adhere well enough to that old sugary snow, and so it detaches from the hillside and comes down as an avalanche."
Rain and warming temperatures later on Friday also increased the avalanche risk.
"So, the bottom portion of the storm snow is nice and light and dry. But as the temperatures warmed and the snow piled up, the top section of that snow is really heavy, and wet and dense," Davis said. "That can kind of pull down on the snowpack off the side of the hill and encourage more avalanching as well."
To stay safe during avalanche conditions, the Sawtooth Avalanche Center recommends completely avoiding avalanche terrain. Avalanche risk is expected to say high on Saturday.
The Sawtooth Avalanche Center provides daily avalanche forecasts that can be viewed here.
Avalanche in Hailey
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