Sawatch

Avalanche

John Mackinnon ยท Jan 20, 2017

View on map

Weather

Obscured skies with a few sucker holes. Cool temps, light NW winds at ridge-tops, very light snow throughout the day with intermittent bursts of moderate-heavy snowfall (periods>S4). Winds began picking up in the afternoon and I observed some blowing snow on the drive home.

Snowpack

A few inches of new snow overnight buried the layer of surface facets that had been forming this past week. Recent storm snow remained uncohesive in sheltered areas but did sluff easily on steep terrain. The snow we observed on a NE aspect above TL was noticeably wind affected and beginning to become more cohesive.

Avalanche

We got a few tiny stuffs to run on steeper rollovers, and saw a small natural loose dry avalanche on a NE aspect above TL.