Northern New Mexico

The avalanche danger is LOW today at all elevations and aspects.  LOW danger does not mean NO danger.  Use caution where you find deeper pockets of wind drifted snow below ridgelines and in cross-loaded terrain at upper elevations.   Steep northerly and shady aspects that are wind-sheltered is where loose snow avalanches are becoming more of a concern with weak faceted snow making the upper foot of the snowpack. These sluffs can entrain more snow as they quickly move down the slope and could be problematic in high consequence terrain. 

The warm spring-like weather for January continued yesterday with temperatures climbing above freezing at all elevations with calm winds and sunny skies.  Even at the end of January our high sun angle here in NM was enough to start impacting the upper portions of the surface on solar aspects.  Today will be another warm day,  with calm winds and increasing clouds from a  weak system in southern NM.   

There are a couple of things to watch out for today: 

- Pockets of wind drifted snow: at upper elevations below ridgelines and in cross-loaded terrain.  These slabs could be up to a foot thick, but shouldn't be very wide on isolated slopes. Use caution if you experience shooting cracks or an overall stiffening of the surface.     

- Loose snow sluffing: on steep northerly and shady aspects, where the last three-plus weeks of mostly high pressure has weakened the upper portions of the snow surface into faceted snow.  These sluffs would start off small but could entrain more snow as it travels down the slope.  Getting caught in a loose snow avalanche could be serious in high consequence terrain if it were to push you over a cliff.

-Wet loose avalanches: on steep solar aspects that are directly in the sun and at lower elevations.  Partly cloudy skies today, should help limit some of the solar impact, but temperatures today will climb into the 30's and 40's.  Rollerballs and pinwheels are indications the upper portions of the snow surface are becoming wet.  These types of avalanches would be small, but are difficult to maneuver out of.  You can avoid this problem by heading to a shadier aspect. 

 So what happened with the persistent slab problem of facets and depth hoar on or near the ground on northerly upper elevation terrain? In recent snowpits these layers continue to remain present in shallow snowpacks that are less than 4 feet deep but are taking hard force to fail and propagate or are not failing at all.  These persistent weak layers will continue to remain dormant for now until we wait for a significant load. With the potential of a bigger storm system in the middle of next week,  these layers could become more of a concern on slopes where the snowpack is shallow.  

The BCA Beacon Basin Park is open at the base of chair four at TSV.  As we wait for our next storm this is a great way to practice your avalanche transceiver skills. Thanks to all of those who helped set it up as well as clearing the area of the downed trees from the strong wind event in the middle of December.