Avalanche Advisory Archive Pre-2016

Date Issued:2016-01-24
Danger:2
Trend:4
Probability:3
Size:2
Problem:3
Discussion:

The National Weather Service Forecasts-

TODAY...RAIN. SNOW LEVEL 1100 FEET. HIGHS AROUND 41. SOUTHEAST
WIND 10 TO 15 MPH.

TONIGHT...RAIN. LOWS AROUND 35. EAST WIND 10 TO 15 MPH.

MONDAY...RAIN. HIGHS AROUND 37. SOUTHEAST WIND 10 TO 15 MPH.

MONDAY NIGHT...RAIN...HEAVY AT TIMES. LOWS AROUND 34. SOUTHEAST WIND 15 MPH.

Yesterday morning we received about 10mm of precipitation at the Mt Roberts Tram Summit. This left about 8cm of new snow at that elevation. The Eaglecrest Mid Mountain gauge is showing 14mm of precip and only 7cm of new wet snow.

Temperatures remain near freezing with Eaglecrest base at 34. Mid Mountain at 31 and the Tram right at 32f.

Winds continue to blow out of the East with Eaglecrest showing 15-30mph and the Tram a little less with winds from 12-25

All of this gives us the continued ability to build wind slabs in the lee of the slopes.

The forecast calls for over an inch of precipitation in the next 24 hours. This in itself is enough to build avalanche danger.

With new snow on the ground over the last two days and winds from 15-40 human triggered avalanches are possible. With windslabs in place and over an inch of precipitation in the forecast with continued winds natural avalanches are possible as well yet less likely.

Avalanche danger is Moderate to Considerable today and building strongly into tomorrow.

Temperatures are to cool off tonight into tomorrow and this should help with stability. A lot of it will depend on precipitation rates and volumes as well as wind speeds.

Be careful out there and recognize you may find areas of weakness this morning. Those areas of weakness may grow over the next 24 hours.

Any avalanches in the urban environment would still be quite small.

Tip:

There have been a number of fatalities due to avalanche in the west over the last week.

Learn more about avalanche cycles in this great Powder magazine article.

http://www.powder.com/stories/the-safe-zone/unstable-snowpacks-across-the-west/#dUUIBxWZRS7RXPAY.97