Gunnison
SnowpackZach Guy · Jan 28, 2013 · Gunnison
Weather
Weather: Moderate snowfall, heavy at times (S3-S4). Winds increasing from moderate to strong mid-morning, veering from SW to W to NW with intense snow transport. A 6ft deep drift formed on our cat road over the course of 1 hr. Extreme gusts in the afternoon with blowing snow even below treeline. Temps fell from 20’s to mid teens. Overcast all day.
Snowpack
Snowpack: HS: 54†Storm board 19â€. 5†of snow fell last night (.2†SWE) , with an additional 7†today (.45†SWE). Storm totals currently at 23†(1.75†SWE). Snow surface stiffening later in the day, up to 4F at near treeline. Storm snow is ~12 -24†deep across our terrain (potentially more on E aspects but we didn’t go that direction) Report of slide coming across Kebler Pass Rd. 1.5-2ft deep crown on a southerly aspect, 120 ft wide and 150 vertical with debris on the road. On our terrain, widespread instability in a storm snow density difference (precip particles) buried near the surface. All W facing slopes NTL or BTL steeper than 35 degrees easily propagated across slope and slid or had shooting cracks on this layer, but the amount of snow moving fairly inconsequential; These slabs increased in size from 2†to 8†through the day. We ski cut one small pocket failing in the storm slab/ old snow interface, but no other signs of storm interface instability, although this interface saw heavy ski traffic prior to this storm. Localized collapses on steep south aspects where the MF crust was thin.