There is a new unified avalanche danger scale rolling out for the 2010/11 season that will create a common vocabulary between US and Canadian avalanche centers, according to Powder Magazine.

It’s not immediately clear to me what the major differences are here. It retains the Low/Moderate/Considerable/High/Extreme methodology with similar explanations for each danger rating.

Whatever the differences are, you can get accustomed to the below image on your friendly neighborhood avalanche center website.

Via Powder:

Backcountry avalanche centers across Canada and the United States will be using a new avalanche danger scale for the 2010/11 season. The new scale reduces some of the ambiguity of the previous scale, provides more definitive travel advice for backcountry recreationists, incorporates risk by referring to typical avalanche sizes expected, and utilizes icons recently adopted by European countries.