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 0" 72 Hour Snow 8" Base Depth at Gold Basin 21" Wind W 5-10 Temp 20F
Temperatures have warmed since yesterday and it is a pleasant 20 degrees at 10,000 ft. Today will see highs in the mid 20's and partly sunny skies. Monday and Tuesday will bring increasing winds in the mountains with above normal temperatures. Our next chance for snow is Tuesday night into Wednesday.
The November third storm gives us a settled snow depth of about 22" inches in Gold Basin. This is a great start for early November, but overall the snowpack is very shallow. Be on the lookout for rocks and logs just beneath the snow surface. Your best bet for ski touring remains roads and grassy slopes.
The most recent storm brought light density powder. The October snow is providing a nice supportive base beneath the new snow. In our travels yesterday we were happy to find the old snow at the base of the pack is not completely faceted to the ground. If you dig down you will find 4F to 1F density at the bottom of the pack. A thin layer of faceted snow formed in the top few centimeters of the October snow while it sat around for about 12 days. Avalanche conditions seem mostly benign for now, but a wind slab on top of this faceted weak layer could produce an avalanche. If you are attempting to ski anything, be on the lookout for areas where wind-drifted snow has formed a cohesive slab. You are most likely to find wind-drifted snow on the leeward sides of ridge crests and terrain features, primarily in upper elevation, wind exposed terrain.
Tim Matthews was up on Friday and sent in this great
observation.
If you are getting up into the mountains 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:
