I'll be giving a free Know Before You Go avalanche awareness presentation Thursday, Dec 13, at 6:00 pm at the Grand County Library. Hope to see you there!
Another day like this is on tap.
Skies are mostly clear, westerly winds are light, and 10,000' temps are in the mid teens. Today look for mostly sunny skies, light to moderate SW winds, and high temps at 10,000' near 30 degrees. A weak and splitting storm system will spread high clouds over our area later today and tonight. Another splitting system will move through the region on Wednesday
It's been more than a week since the last storm cycle,and wind and sun have taken their toll on exposed snow surfaces. Observers on Sunday however reported "fantastic" conditions on sheltered, low angle, northerly facing terrain. It's still low snow conditions out there and rocks and deadfall lurk just beneath the surface so be careful out there. Base depth in Gold Basin is 32".
Lots of folks have been out and about enjoying the early December snow, and much thanks to all who have sent in observations this week! Check them out
here.
In my travels on Saturday I was able to observe more natural activity from last weeks snow and wind event. Evidence of soft slabs and loose sluffs releasing in the storm snow last Sunday was abundant on steep, upper elevation terrain primarily facing NE. More importantly however, were avalanches with fractures up to 4' deep on steep slopes facing NW-N-NE. These likely occurred late Tues night or early Wed morning when strong WSW winds drifted snow overloading buried persistent weak layers. This was not a widespread cycle, and slopes with similar aspect and elevation still have the potential to avalanche with a human trigger.
