Grand Mesa
AvalancheBrandon Levy ยท Jan 1, 2023
Weather
Warm and very windy. The temperature ws hovering in the mid to upper 30's with mixed precipitation and strong southerly winds at the road summit
Snowpack
The heavy dense snow that Douglas Pass has received since 12/27/2022 has settled into a moist 45 cms at the elevation of my roadside observation today (7775'). This storm snow fell on a melt-freeze crust on the southerly-facing slopes and on faceted snow on the northside cutbanks. The storm snow appears to be adhering to the underlying melt-freeze crust for the time being. Trees and steep slopes that would usually shed the amount of storm snow we've seen on Douglas are plastered and caked with snow.
Avalanche
One small avalanche on the westside of the Schnauzer reached SH139 and filled one lane at approximatley 1645 on January 1, 2023.