The National Weather Service Forecasts-

TODAY...RAIN...HEAVY AT TIMES IN THE MORNING...THEN RAIN LIKELY IN THE AFTERNOON. HIGHS AROUND 40. SOUTHEAST WIND 5 TO 15 MPH.

TONIGHT...CLOUDY. AREAS OF FOG. CHANCE OF RAIN. LOWS AROUND 34. SOUTHWEST WIND 10 MPH SHIFTING TO THE SOUTHEAST LATE.

WEDNESDAY...CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE MORNING...THEN RAIN IN THE
AFTERNOON. SNOW LEVEL 900 FEET IN THE AFTERNOON. HIGHS AROUND 36. SOUTHEAST WIND 10 MPH.

Well... Its raining...

We received 65mm (2.56\") of precipitation in the last 48 hours. 43mm (1.7\") of which came in the last 24 hours.

Temperatures peaked yesterday around noon at +3c at the Mt Roberts Tram Summit and +1c at the top of Eaglecrest. Temperatures have fallen by 3c in the last 18 hours dropping back below freezing at around Midnight at Eaglecrest and at about 4am at the Mt Roberts Tram Summit.

Eaglecrest has seen nearly 20mm of precip since the temps fell below freezing while the Tram has only seen about 10mm of precip after reaching freezing again due to its lower elevation and channel affect.

We are starting to pick up new snow at higher elevations since this cooling began.

Winds have been strong from 20-40mph out of the SE. Eaglecrest has seen some gusting to almost 50 during this event.

The high intensity precip rates has placed a lot of stress on the snowpack over the last few days. We have seen quite a bit of settlement and consolidation over the last few days.

The lower mountain snowpack has developed drainage channels and is now processing the rain. The very highest areas in our forecast region may not have fully developed drain channels in the deeper parts of the snowpack but are very close to it.

Avalanche Danger is Considerable. Natural Avalanches are possible. Human Triggered avalanches likely at upper elevations in windloaded pockets.

As temperatures continue to cool and the precip rate decreases after the noon hour avalanche danger will continue to fall.

This snowpack remains rotten at lower mountain elevations and we are picking up quite a bit of windloaded snow at higher elevations. Natural avalanches will remain possible until after tonights cooling into tomorrow with much less precip and cooler temperatures in place.

Human Triggered avalanches will remain possible a little longer at extreme upper elevations and lower elevations.

If we can sneak through this morning without any avalanches we will be back on our way to a stable snowpack.

The level of danger is still a concern on our steeper longer avalanche paths such as Chop Gulley above the Flume Trail and Snowslide Creek above Thane Road.

Please avoid spending time in avalanche zones today.

Do not hike the Flume Trail. Do not park or walk along Thane Road. Minimize your danger by minimizing your time in avalanche terrain.

Please do not walk the trails above the Berhands neighborhood located in the avalanche runout zones as well.

There will be a one day FREE avalanche awareness class with companion rescue training held at Eaglecrest on Sunday January 20th from 9-4pm.

This class will teach you to identify avalanche terrain, how to do weather assesments and read what that may do to avalanche stability. We will discuss snowpack layering and its relation to stability. You will learn about safe travel practices in avalanche terrain. How to dig snowpits and make stability assesments for yourself. How to use your avalanche rescue gear, and perform companion rescue.

To sign up for this free educational offering please call Tom @ 209-9207 or email [email protected]

We look forward to having you involved