Location: Paradise Divide Area
Date of Observation: 02/24/2020
Name: Zach Kinler
Subject: Gothic slides
Aspect: South East, South
Elevation: ~12000′
Avalanches: Observed two widely propagating wind slab avalanches on Gothic Mt. One on a SE aspect of the “Spork” and the other a S aspect on the west side.
SS-N-R2-D2-I
SS-N-R1-D1.5-I
Location: Paradise Divide Area
Date of Observation: 02/24/2020
Name: Lawson
Subject: Little slide on Richmond
Aspect: East
Elevation: 11-12
Avalanches: Small slab in bottom of martini couloir
Happened between 9 and 10 am this morning
Weather: Windy, sunnier than expected
Snowpack: Was on Camo, did 2 probe tests. 230 and 190.
Location: Kebler Pass Area
Date of Observation: 02/24/2020
Name: Steve banks
Subject: Sending through the Squall
Aspect: North, North East
Elevation: 9,800-11,400
Avalanches: Only small loose dry in steep sheltered terrain
Weather: Heavy squall moved through 8-9:30 am. Big winds, temperature drop and heavy precipitation dropped about 2”. Then the sun came out and it got COLD.
Snowpack: Good soft snow skiing conditions. No wind or storm slab development in protected areas though wind board found at lower elevations where exposed to wind. In upper start zones we found over 2 meter of snow with a weak, faceted base. No crusts on steep North facing slopes.
Date: 02/24/2020
A cold system is moving down from the northern Rockies today with an associated jet stream. Light snowfall will accumulate from today through tonight and possibly drips into Tuesday but totals are looking fairly lean. Snowfall will be focused on the highest terrain to the west and north of Crested Butte. Moderate to strong northwest winds will continue to blow through Tuesday moving the new snow around. Temperatures will be significantly colder than the past few days with highs in the teens and lows reaching below zero at night.
An additional weak system is forecasted to move through the area on Wednesday night into Thursday followed by a building ridge at the end of the week. Temperatures should rebound with warmer air moving in from the southwest for the end of the workweek and weekend.
High Temperature: 19 to 23
Winds/Direction: 12-22/WNW G45
Sky Cover: Mostly Cloudy
Irwin Snow: 1-3″
Elkton Snow: 1-3″
Friend’s Hut Snow: 0-2″
Low Temperature: -2 to 2
Winds/Direction: 10-20/NW
Sky Cover: Mostly Cloudy
Irwin Snow: 0-2″
Elkton Snow: 0-2″
Friend’s Hut Snow: 0-1″
High Temperature: 12 to 16
Winds/Direction: 8-18/NNW
Sky Cover: Mostly Cloudy
Irwin Snow: 0-1″
Elkton Snow: 0-1″
Friend’s Hut Snow: 0-1″
Location: Paradise Divide Area
Date of Observation: 02/22/2020
Name:
Subject: Glide in slate river drainage
Aspect: West
Elevation: 10000ish. Maybe 250-300ft above 1st switchback on paradise divide rd
Avalanches: Glide avalanche to ground, surprisingly thin snowpack in area. Didn’t run, but very steep.
Weather: Tropical. No wind. Light cloud cover coming in from south. Sunny until we left at 1230
Snowpack: Not surprisingly Big changes from aspect to aspect. East-west rode well. North was holding great. South east- southwest had crust and was quite firm to breakable East has some wind ribbon but didn’t find any win board. This was the only sign of instability we encountered both up and down.
Photos:
Location: Paradise Divide Area
Date of Observation: 02/22/2020
Name: Joey Carpenter
Subject: Pdivide ATL
Aspect: North, North East, East, South East, South
Elevation: 11-12.6k
Avalanches: S Aspect, R2D2.5, ATL, appearing to have run in recent days along the ridge connecting Bellview summit and W maroon pass. Observed from very far away but appeared to be over 1200ft wide (map estimate). Unable to estimate crown depth even through binos.
Large chunk of cornice broke off E side of Baldy within the last day or so. Did not appear to initiate a slab but large chunks made it well into the Quigley basin.
Weather: Low clouds filtered sun for most of the morning to keep snow surfaces above 11k dry. Temperatures remained warm and winds were calm. Clouds built throughout morning to our SW but didn’t make it to upper elevations by the time we left around 130p.
Snowpack: Firm, character building turns up high on any slope that has been exposed to solar in recent days. Shaded slopes were much better. Sastrugi skied well where it hadn’t been cooked off. Variable depth near wind scoured and sun baked ridge lines made for cautious route finding when choosing a decent. Tried to pick the deepest fetch we could find.
Massive cornices have built on the E side of Baldy above Quigley creek.
Photos:
Date: 02/23/2020
The advertised closed low-pressure system has pushed a plume of moisture into the area and produced around 1 to 4 inches of new snow as of 4:20 AM. The low is still centered well to our west and will head eastward today. Expect moderate snowfall to continue during daylight hours today, comfortable air temperatures in the mid to upper twenties, and moderate wind speeds. Around mid-day, the flow will shift from southwest to the northwest as the low moves eastward. This system will offer a nice refresh to conditions and cover up the recently formed crusts on the south half of the compass. Wind speeds will remain modest but will have just enough gusto to transport the new snow at upper elevations. Closed low-pressure systems are often difficult to predict; this storm as of 5AM is already overproducing so prepared for the possibility of more snow than expected.
On Monday another system will bring snowfall to the area under northwest flow. Accumulating snowfall will linger from Monday through much of the daylight hours on Tuesday. Areas that are favorable for northwest flow events might do fairly well with this two day period of snowfall. We will keep you up to speed as this system gets closer.
High Temperature: 25 to 29
Winds/Direction: 10-20/SW early AM shifting to NW
Sky Cover: Overcast
Irwin Snow: 5-9″
Elkton Snow: 5-9″
Friend’s Hut Snow: 5-9″
Low Temperature: 9 to 13
Winds/Direction: 10-20/NW
Sky Cover: Mostly Cloudy
Irwin Snow: 1-3″
Elkton Snow: 1-3″
Friend’s Hut Snow: 1-3″
High Temperature: 18 to 22
Winds/Direction: 15-25/WNW
Sky Cover: Overcast
Irwin Snow: 2-4″
Elkton Snow: 2-4″
Friend’s Hut Snow: 1-3″
Location: Crested Butte Area
Date of Observation: 02/22/2020
Name: Rec 1 from the Tropics
Subject: Snodgrass in the Tropics
Aspect: East, South East, South
Elevation: BTL, NTL
Avalanches:
Slab avalanche observed on a westerly aspect NTL-ATL. Cornice formation observed below rideglines on easterly aspects on Mt. Axtel and Gothic.
Weather: Tropical, warm weather today when we went out at noon. From noon increasing cloud cover caused temperatures to drop significantly.
Winds remained calm to light throughout the afternoon.
Snowpack: NE aspect, NTL. HS 130. F-4F 30-40cm thick slab above facets on upper snowpack with 20cm depth hoar on bottom. ECTP19 down 30cm failing on 1-2mm facets.
NE aspect, NTL. HS 116. 1F-4F sitting on top of P hard crust. Multiple crusts observed within the snowpack. 3mm large grain facets/depth hoar at bottom. CTN. ECTX. Pulling at both columns after test, columns failed at basil facet layer.
NE aspect, NTL. HS 140. F-1F snow sitting on top of 17cm on large grain facets/depth hoar. CTM Q1. ECTX.
Location: Paradise Divide Area
Date of Observation: 02/22/2020
Name: Zack Kinler & Evan Ross
Subject: GMT Course Between Top Of The World And Gothic RD
Elevation: 9,600-11,600ft
Snowpack: HS-100-180 cm, below treeline slopes along the course from E-S were moist to wet which will lead to widespread crusting. E and NE slopes near treeline in the Top of the World area remained dry. No signs of instability were noted. A profile on a SE slope at 10,250 adjacent to the course showed stacks of crusts in the upper snowpack with the most concerning layer being a double crust with rounding facets between ~40 cm below the surface. CT results were observed but no results in ECT. Stability on this slope is good.
Date: 02/22/2020
As of 0500, all remote weather stations are above zero! Valley inversions are still hanging on, with valley locations sitting in the single digits and ridge tops basking the low 20s. Westerly alpine winds continue to blow in the 20mph range, keeping things brisk up high.
Expect clouds to really to increase across our forecast area after about 11am as the closed low spinning up from Arizona approaches. The San Juans will be most favored by this incoming storm, but for less than 24hrs out, there remains a lot of model uncertainty. Temperatures will be on the warmer side, with potential valley rain (below 8000ft) early on before changing over to snow. Snow should start to fall across the higher terrain late tonight, and continue until around sunset Sunday. Accumulations look to range from 4-8” with this storm, with another disturbance dropping out of the Pacific Northwest for Monday, bringing with it stronger winds, a little more snowfall, and much colder air.
High Temperature: 30 to 35
Winds/Direction: 10-20 G40/WSW
Sky Cover: Increasing clouds
Irwin Snow: 0
Elkton Snow: 0
Friend’s Hut Snow: 0
Low Temperature: 15-20
Winds/Direction: 10-20/WSW
Sky Cover: Mostly Cloudy
Irwin Snow: 2-4″
Elkton Snow: 2-4″
Friend’s Hut Snow: 1-3″
High Temperature: 20-25
Winds/Direction: 10-20/W
Sky Cover: Mostly Cloudy
Irwin Snow: 3-6″
Elkton Snow: 2-4″
Friend’s Hut Snow: 1-3″
