Avalanche research and forecast have been initiated in the early 1930ies. Switzerland has played a pioneering role in the field ever since. Long term research in snow physics and mechanics have lead to a good understanding of avalanche formation mechanisms, enabling a daily forecast that is widely accepted among tourists as well as professional safety responsibles as a useful decision support.
A successful avalanche warning system is based on a series of different ingredients. The most basic ones are a high quality meteorological forecast and an observation and measurement network that provides additional snow and avalanche specific informations. These data are one hand utilized by the national avalanche warning service at SLF for the daily forecast, and on the other hand directly by the avalanche safety services. Fast and easy communication paths are important to move the information as directly as possible to the potential users. A critical part in every warning process is the understanding by the addressees and their ability to transfer the warning into a meaningful behaviour or activity. This understanding is supported by broad efforts to educate and train the various user groups, be it tourists or professionals
The success of the avalanche warning system has made it a useful partner in the recently started development of warning systems for hydrological hazards in small catchments.