Reported Sunday, February 17, 2008 at 6:15 AM

	Weather Forecast Today: Mostly to partly cloudy, Trace to 2" possible, northwest winds 15-25 mph and Highs in the 20's In Gunnison and Crested Butte Tonight: Mostly cloudy,Trace to 2" possible, northwest winds 15-25 mph and lows below zero valley wide. Tomorrow: Becoming partly cloudy, Trace possible, light winds and highs in the upper 20's throughout the Gunnison Valley Weather Outlook We can expect short waves of precipitation today as a north northwest flow pushes moisture down into our mountains through Monday. Although we are not expecting much accumulation some of these waves could be heavy this afternoon. Moderate to strong northwest winds should blow all day long especially at higher elevations. By Monday afternoon the trough moves to our east and brings back clear skies for a short time. Wednesday looks like it could bring snow to our area on zonal or westerly flow.

Pockets of CONSIDERABLE near and above treeline on steep wind loaded NE through east through SE aspects, MODERATE elsewhere.

LIKELIHOOD OF TRIGGERING

AVALANCHE SIZE

Trend

Strong northwest winds were loading southeast through northeast slopes above treeline all day yesterday creating wind slabs 2-3 feet deep. There were several reports of snowmobile triggered slides near Taylor Park (See observations Page) but no one was caught. Our main concern is still the upper layers in the snowpack where you may find a thin weak layer of buried surface facets 2-3 feet down on shady aspects. Sun crusts can be found throughout the snowpack on sunny aspects that may unstable as well. Deep slab instability still exists on steep slopes above treeline and may be difficult to initiate but could be large, wide and deep once released. The snowpack is complex from aspect to aspect and should be thoroughly investigated before venturing into avalanche terrain.