Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Abajo Area Mountains Issued by Eric Trenbeath for Monday - February 20, 2017 - 7:20am
bottom line

There is a MODERATE avalanche danger in steep, upper elevation, wind exposed terrain where newly formed wind slabs and fresh drifts exist on the leeward sides of ridge crests and terrain features. Suspect any steep slope with recent deposits of wind drifted snow. There is also a MODERATE danger for triggering a storm slab avalanche on all aspects, at upper and mid elevations on slopes steeper than about 35 degrees. And finally, with daytime heating, there will be a MODERATE danger for loose, wet avalanches on sun exposed slopes.
special announcement

The Abajo/Blue Mountain avalanche advisory will provide detailed information on the weekends. During the week, general information and a danger rating will be posted.

current conditions

Camp Jackson picked up 6" of snow over the weekend and I'd expect to find 8-12" up high. This will greatly improve things, particularly at upper elevations where soft snow still remained. Prior to this storm, melt freeze crusts existed on all aspects at lower elevations.

weather

Washington's Birthday

Mostly sunny, with a high near 35. West southwest wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.

Tonight

Patchy fog after 5am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 31. Breezy, with a west wind 15 to 25 mph, with gusts as high as 35 mph.

Tuesday

Partly sunny, with a high near 40. Breezy, with a southwest wind 20 to 25 mph.

Tuesday Night

A slight chance of rain showers before 8pm, then a slight chance of rain and snow showers between 8pm and 1am, then a slight chance of snow showers after 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 31. Windy, with a southwest wind 25 to 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Wednesday

Mostly sunny, with a high near 40. Breezy, with a southwest wind 20 to 25 mph, with gusts as high as 35 mph.

Wednesday Night

A slight chance of rain and snow showers before 9pm, then a chance of snow showers. Partly cloudy, with a low around 22. Breezy. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

Thursday

Snow showers likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 26. Breezy. Chance of precipitation is 70%.

Thursday Night

A slight chance of snow showers before 11pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 14. Blustery.

Friday

Mostly sunny, with a high near 26.
general announcements

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The information in this advisory is from the US Forest Service which is solely responsible for its content. This advisory describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.