Sawatch
AvalancheGavin Gunderson · Feb 8, 2019 · Sawatch
Weather
Cold, high 0F, fast moving clouds with mostly overcast skies. Light snow tapering off by late afternoon. Strong winds above tree-line and moderate to light winds near and below tree-line. Observed snow from the recent storms transporting near the snow surface and around ridge-lines and peaks when visibility permitted.
Snowpack
PWL's exist on all aspects near and above tree-line. Wind loaded slopes and terrain features exist on widespread aspects, not typical in the Independence Pass zone.
Avalanche
Star Mountain B and C ran to the river, but not over. The powder cloud from Star B transported spruce/pine bows and snow onto Highway 82. Both Star B and C ran on the morning of February 7th. On the afternoon of February 7th around 2 PM the south/southeast facing path of Everett B ran over HWY 82 with enough debris to make the road impassible to vehicles. All avalanches were surface/wind loaded snow from the recent storms, creating soft slab avalanches. Star B: >TL-NE facing-SS-N-R2.5-D2 Star C: >TL-NE facing-SS-N-R3-D2 Everett B: >TL-S facing-SS-N-R2.5-D2