Mountain Weather

CB Avalanche CenterWeather

Date: 03/24/2016

A few weak shortwaves embedded in northwest flow today will bring partly cloudy to mostly cloudy skies and generally light winds today. A low pressure trough digs out of the northwest tomorrow. We’ll see increased clouds and moderate winds ahead of this system, and sometime on Friday an unorganized cold front swings through the Elk Mountains, spreading snowfall from the northwest to southeast, with winds easing in its wake but snowfall continuing. Snow numbers into Saturday look to be in the 4-8″ range form Star Pass and 3-6″ range for Taylor Pass, with potential for larger numbers in the favored western portion of our zone.

Family pow pow day

CB Avalanche Center2015-16 Observations

Location: Crested Butte Area
Date of Observation: 03/23/2016
Name: Dave and Ross
Subject: Family pow pow day
Aspect: North East, East
Elevation: 9,600’-11,300′

Avalanches: 1x R1/D1, at 11,300ft, skier triggered slab, convex roll, 25cm deep and ran 20m on the melt freeze crust layer prior to the storm. see photos. Snow got moist towards the valley floor.
Weather: Mostly overcast, S1 at best. Wind 20mph from the W
Snowpack: At the trail head 10cm of snow sitting on a melt freeze crust. At 11,300 25cm of new snow.

IMG_0533 IMG_0534

Big storm totals

CB Avalanche Center2015-16 Observations

Location: Kebler Pass Area
Date of Observation: 03/23/2016
Name: Irwin Guides
Subject: Big storm totals
Aspect: East, South, West
Elevation: 10-12,000 ft

Avalanches: Some instabilities with 30-50cm storm/wind slabs skier triggered up to D1.5 on cuts. East aspect ATL Binge: SS-AScr-R1-D1.5-S This was triggered 15’ remotely, while setting a right hand boundary in Jaybirds while putting a hard turn in just below ridge line. 50cm’s deep, 100’ wide, ran 500’. It ran in the storm snow 20cm’s above the crust.
Weather: S5 all day with some sunny beaks poking through, though never blue. Moderate SW winds gusting to 50 mph. Highs of 23°/12°. 11” new snow throughout the day.
Snowpack: 27 inches w/ 1.35″ SWE in 20 hours.  HST 24″, HS: 82″.  Still snowing S2 a 17:00. Mostly blower, light density snow (5% this morning). Southerly aspects up high got thicker with sun and wind. East had deeper wind slabs.

Dusk on Snodgrass

CB Avalanche Center2015-16 Observations

Location: Crested Butte Area
Date of Observation: 03/23/2016
Name: ADB
Subject: Dusk on Snodgrass
Aspect:
Elevation: BTL

Avalanches:
Weather: S-1, light winds, obsscured sky with hints of blue
Snowpack: Less than 5 cm of new snow within 24 hours on sun crust.

1″ overnight

CB Avalanche Center2015-16 Observations

Location: Brush Creek Area
Date of Observation: 03/23/2016
Name: Friends Hut Field Team
Subject: 1″ overnight
Aspect:
Elevation: Near treeline

Avalanches:
Weather:
Snowpack: 1″ of accumulation overnight at Friends Hut

Windy, Soft and Crusty

CB Avalanche Center2015-16 Observations

Location: Crested Butte Area
Date of Observation: 03/22/2016
Name: WN
Subject: Windy, Soft and Crusty
Aspect: North East, East
Elevation: 9,600’-11,300′

Avalanches:
Weather: Overcast, Cold, Mostly mod winds with pulses of strong gusts out of the S-SW.
Snowpack: The snows surfaces today varied from sun/MF crust (E aspect) to dry wind affected powder (NE Aspect). Hand shears showed old storm snow was bonding well with old interface, results also showed the slab popping out as a FF slab when applying pressure with hand on 1mm facets.

Mountain Weather

CB Avalanche CenterWeather

Date: 03/23/2016

The cold front swung through last night, dropping a quick 2-5″ across our zone. Northwest flow carrying some additional moisture is now filling in the wake of the east-bound system. Orographic snow showers should taper through the day, with the favored snowbelt picking up a few more inches, under gusty northwest winds. Unsettled but mostly dry and calmer weather carries us through Thursday as a couple of minor embed disturbances track to our north. On Friday, a stronger system drops in from the Pacific Northwest and digs out a trough across the 4-corners region. Looking ahead towards the Grand Traverse: Our first look at high-resolution models are calling for 3-5″ of snow on Friday near Star and Taylor Pass, with winds mercifully easing around midnight, and temps dropping into the single digits. These numbers will evolve as this dynamic system approaches.

Temperature Crusts Everywhere

CB Avalanche Center2015-16 Observations

Location: Crested Butte Area
Date of Observation: 03/22/2016
Name: JSJ
Subject: Temperature Crusts Everywhere
Aspect: North, North East, East, West
Elevation: 9,300’-11,300′

Avalanches:
Weather: Overcast, Warm, Steady moderate to strong winds with extreme gusts from the WSW
Snowpack: Temperature and MF crusts observed on almost all aspects and slopes below 11,000’, some very slick on the surface. Wind still transporting and depositing snow onto lee aspects. Zero precip as of 1530.

Mountain Weather

CB Avalanche CenterWeather

Date: 03/22/2016

High and mid level clouds will continue to stream into our area ahead of the moist Pacific storm rumbling across Utah and the Great Basin today. Strong southwest winds (avg 32mph max gust 92mph at Scarp Ridge, 12,000ft) will bring warm temperatures to the Elk Mountains once again, but thicker clouds will limit daytime heating. The cold front looks to arrive just before sunset (6pm-ish). Expect a short period of heavy snow, limited visibility and shifting winds. Light snow will continue throughout the night, taper early Wednesday morning, then re-develop mid-morning. Snow accumulations look to be in the 4-8” range with higher amounts northwest of Crested Butte.

Red Lady Glades

CB Avalanche Center2015-16 Observations

Location: Crested Butte Area
Date of Observation: 03/21/2016
Name: DB
Subject: Red Lady Glades
Aspect: South East, South
Elevation: 9-12000

Avalanches:
Weather: Partly cloudy with building clouds throughout the day. It was warm below tree line. Once in the alpine the wind raged, my face still hurts. Temps were super warm 35-40 at the trail head and it was cold up high.
Snowpack: The wind kept the snow surface hard in the alpine. Once at tree line the snow softness up and was creamy to slush down low. I saw no signs of instability.

Skiing low was still good due to warming. Top was not ideal but was not breakable, just hard pack skiing