As we gear up for the winter season, here are a few things to consider doing:
- Attend USAW and learn more about avalanches and decision making. (scroll down to the bottom of this page for more info and links)
- Sign up for an avalanche class.
- Take the all-new online avalanche courses the UAC built for Know Before You Go or take other online courses listed on the KBYG website (Develop skills -> Online Learning).
- Get your avalanche rescue gear ready for winter. Put fresh batteries in your transceiver and update the firmware. Inspect your shovel and probe. Get your airbag backpack ready by possibly doing a test deployment and update the firmware if it is an electric version.
24 Hour Snow 8" 72 Hour Snow 8" Base Depth at Gold Basin 20" Wind NW 5-10 Temp 12F
With such a wet afternoon in town yesterday you would have thought we were going to get more snow but 8" has fallen in Gold Basin at just under an inch of water. Southerly winds cranked over the past couple of days but backed off yesterday afternoon before shifting to the NW. Today look for mostly sunny skies, cold temps with highs in the mid teens, and light northwesterly winds. The next storm system passing through to the north may bring a few clouds to the area late Saturday into Sunday. The next chance for snow is early mid-week.
The most recent snow has fallen on top of a settled "base" of around a foot of snow above 10,000'. We don't have a lot of field observations yet, but this older snow has likely become weak and
faceted. Your primary concern will be in areas where
wind-drifted snow has formed a cohesive slab over top of weak, sugary, faceted snow. Look for areas of wind drifted snow on the leeward sides of ridge crests and terrain features, primarily in upper elevation, wind exposed terrain. Because of the low snow conditions, this is not terrain you are likely to want to be in anyway. Ease into the season by sticking to low angle, grassy slopes, both to avoid avalanches, and to avoid bashing into rocks and logs just below the surface.
We'll be getting out to have a look around over the next few days. If you are too, please
submit an observation and let us know what you are seeing!
Get current and past 24-hour readings from these real-time weather links:
