Front Range
AvalancheRyan Lewthwaite · Jan 13, 2020 · Front Range
Weather
A very windy day with gusts into the 50mph range. The northwest winds were stripping snow from the alpine and whiteouts were frequent. Air temperatures were 7F with windchills in the minus teens. Clouds were overcast.
Snowpack
The winds were scouring the alpine and depositing snow into near and below treeline areas rapidly. The moderate to strong northwest winds were also redistributing any soft snow into gullies and cross-loaded terrain features. Dense drifts near treeline on the surface were variable in thickness. Tapering slabs of drifted snow were observed to crack and collapse underfoot. There are 3 persistent weak layers on this southeast aspect near treeline. A concerning upper snowpack layer of near surface facets was reactive in stability tests with moderate forces. See Snow Pilot. Near treeline terrain is billowing and has the best chance for propagating wind slab avalanches.
Avalanche
No new avalanches observed due to very low visibility.