Roof avalanches can be a serious danger. In Texas a woman managed to catch the exact moment slabs of snow slide from this roof. Luckily there was no-one underneath because a parked car was destroyed by the urban avalanche.
A number of American states from Idaho to Minnesota are currently experiencing severe winter weather. There has been heavy snow which is now covered in thick ice. Drivers have been warned to stay at home. Dallas-Fort-Worth airport has had to be partially closed and houses are without electricity in the North of Texas.
On the 9th December a young woman escaped an avalanche at Grizzly Gulch in Utah near to Salt Lake City (glad to see they have nice conditions). Classic convex roll-over. The victim triggered their airbag but because of configuration: terrain trap, slow moving slide, secondary release, it did not stop her getting completely buried although may have kept her nearer the surface. Food for thought. She had been sent first because she was the only member of her group with a beacon and airbag!
The group were on a professional shoot for the Alta ski area. They had not intended to go into the backcountry but the great conditions had finally tempted them. They had read the avalanche bulletin and new that avalanches were likely on the slopes they were skiing but they knew the terrain well (familiarity) and thought that the slopes were too small to be dangerous. Avalanche was a soft slab on facets - exactly the conditions we will have all over the mountains in France when it next snows.
http://utahavalanchecenter.org/avalanches/18960?goback=.gde_2564299_member_5816011314832629762#!