Grand Mesa

Avalanche

Ben Pritchett · Mar 9, 2021 · Grand Mesa

Weather

Warm and windy. Strong south southwest winds caused a bit of spindrift, but not enough recent snow for any significant drifting.

Snowpack

Snowpack in the central Grand Mesa area is generally stable and rapidly melting. Recent warm weather caused more melt than shedding. Southerly facing terrain has drained water to the ground. I found 100 to 120cm of snow across southeast, south, southwest facing slopes. Basal Depth Hoar was moist and 1-finger hard. I would not anticipate either a Wet Slab or Persistent Slab avalanche cycle with normal storms or periods of warm weather. The snowpack on northerly terrain is still dry, with no signs of meltwater observed around 10,500'. The basal Depth Hoar remains the layer of concern, although it's strengthening (4-finger hard). Overlying slabs were too thick and stiff for ECT results. PST's propagated to the end at 40/110. It would take 3+" of SWE to worry about reactivating a Persistent Slab avalanche problem. Down the road, if we see consecutive non-freezing nights in a rapid warm up, I would expect Wet Slab avalanches.

Avalanche

None observed