Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Abajo Area Mountains Issued by Eric Trenbeath for Sunday - December 4, 2016 - 7:31am
bottom line

Due to low snow cover, the avalanche danger is generally LOW in the Abajo Mountains. The snow pack is very shallow and weak at this time, and future snow loads will cause the danger to increase.




special announcement
current conditions

Snow cover in the Abajo Mountains is still quite thin and there isn't enough snow to recreate on beyond the road. The storm last week brought the first significant snow laying down about a foot in the upper elevations on top of about 6" of existing snow. There is only a few inches of snow on the ground at the trailheads and in the lower elevations.


Forest Service volunteer Chris Jacobson tops out at North Creek Pass. Pretty low snow up there.


On the backside near Robinson Pasture. Snow here was even thin on the road so we turned around.

Wind, temperature and humidity on Abajo Peak.

Snow totals at Camp Jackson.

Avalanche Problem 1
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 24 hours
description

There isn't currently enough snow to pose much of an avalanche danger, but of note is the current snow pack structure. The weak shallow now is already deteriorating, and this doesn't bode well for future snow loads.


Chris Jacobson digs out weak, faceted grains, or "sugar snow" out from the bottom of the existing shallow snow pack. This makes an unstable base for future snow loads.

weather

Today

Sunny, with a high near 32. Northwest wind 10 to 15 mph.

Tonight

Partly cloudy, with a low around 22. Breezy, with a west southwest wind 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.

Monday

Mostly sunny, with a high near 29. Breezy, with a west wind 10 to 20 mph.

Monday Night

Partly cloudy, with a low around 16. Breezy, with a west wind 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.

Tuesday

A 20 percent chance of snow after 11am. Mostly sunny, with a high near 20. Breezy, with a west southwest wind 20 to 25 mph, with gusts as high as 35 mph.

Tuesday Night

A 30 percent chance of snow, mainly before 11pm. Partly cloudy, with a low around 5. Blustery.

Wednesday

Sunny, with a high near 12.