Avalanche Advisory Archive 2016 – 2018

Date Issued:2017-01-29 07:33:28
Danger:2
Primary Trend:1
Primary Probability:3
Primary Likelihood:2
Primary Size:2
Primary Description:

after a week of above freezing temps and lots of rain we have full depth percolation in the snowpack and lots of free moisture along the ground. This has the ability to lubricate the earths surface and helps to produce increased glide rates and the possibility of glide avalanches.

Glide avalanches often occur after the warm and rain during the cooling phase of a storm. Be aware that over the next 24 hours this moisture saturated snowpack will start to stabilize... but in the meanwhile the possibility of glide avalanches exists.

Secondary Trend:1
Secondary Probability:9
Secondary Likelihood:2
Secondary Size:2
Secondary Description:

after a week of above freezing temps and lots of rain we have full depth percolation in the snowpack and lots of free moisture along the ground. This has the ability to lubricate the earths surface and helps to produce increased glide rates and the possibility of glide avalanches.

Glide avalanches often occur after the warm and rain during the cooling phase of a storm. Be aware that over the next 24 hours this moisture saturated snowpack will start to stabilize... but in the meanwhile the possibility of glide avalanches exists.

Discussion:

The National Weather Service Forecasts-

Today- Patchy fog. Numerous snow and rain showers. Snow accumulation less than 1 inch. Highs around 37. East wind 10 mph.

Tonight- Decreasing clouds. Scattered snow showers. Lows around 27. Light winds.

Monday- Partly cloudy. Highs around 32. Light winds.

Temperatures have shifted around the region and for the first time in 5 days last night around 8pm, we are seeing well below freezing temperatures in our mountains.

This came after a long period or warming and rain that really allowed the lower mountain snowpacks to settle and stabilize.

At upper elevations we saw a lot of wind this week and with near freezing temperatures we have several weird weak layers especially in windloaded areas at the highest elevations.

This morning Eaglecrest is showing 31f at the bottom, 26 at mid mountain and 24f on top. They picked up around 10mm of precipitation and nearly 8-10cm (3-4\")of snow at the mid mountain gauges. Probably not so much down low.

This new snow came in during continues high winds. Eaglecrest is currently blowing 20 and gusting much higher. This is continuing to add windloading to areas.

Windloading will be the primary concern for the day. With cooler temperatures in the forecast and almost no precip in the forecast avalanche danger is MODERATE today. Natural avalanches are not likely and yet human triggered avalanches remain possible especially in windloaded areas.

Tip:

Here is a great short video on snow to get you fired up and to remind you when it comes to avalanches and avalanche danger you need to:

KNOW BEFORE YOU GO!!!

http://kbyg.org/

Forecaster:Tom Mattice