Gunnison
AvalancheCBAC Forecaster · Apr 3, 2024 · Gunnison
Weather
Noticeably warmer temperatures compared to Tuesday. Light WNW winds above treeline and calm at valley bottom.
Snowpack
We traveled on the south half of the compass to 12,500 feet and found that surfaces began to naturally shed on easterlies by about 11 and south around noon. By 2 pm low elevation southerlies lost boot support with penetration to the ground. Low-elevation sunny slopes could produce gouging loose avalanches by the afternoon. There is variation across high-elevation southerlies depending on how much of last week's storm snow was stripped away by southwest winds. We avoided terrain that clearly had thicker slabs from last week to avoid a surprise slab avalanche due to warming or wetting. The most recent dust layer is now showing on many sunny slopes and this will accelerate meltwater production in the next two days.
Avalanche
Numerous loose avalanches running on east through south aspects by 1pm. The near treeline elevation band appeared to be the most active, with no loose avalanches observed on east above treeline. All appeared to be D1 - D1.5 in size.