Quick report
• One small slab avalanche just above the shed roof in Shed 6 located at 4600’ on an east aspect. o SS-N-R1-D1.5-O, crown was 5-10” thick (photo) and about 75’ wide. Debris ran about 100 vertical feet terminating above the shed. Failure layer was depth hoar at the ground. • Another small (D1) soft slab on a north-facing cut bank along Hwy 2 just east of Marias Pass (photo). Failure layer also appears to be some older snow and a persistent grain type. • No other avalanche activity observed. But visibility up into the higher terrain above the road was limited. • Snowfall last night totaled 4-6” on the Canyon floor with 5-10” above 6000’. • Another 2-3” accumulated on the Canyon floor today with 2-8” above 6000’. • Easterly winds intensified after the Arctic air arrived around daybreak. Blizzard conditions resulted and fresh wind slabs were forming at all elevations.
Weather
- Cloud Cover
- overcast
- Wind Loading
- intense
- Snow Avail For Transport
- large amounts
• The Arctic air arrived around daybreak today and temperatures rapidly dropped from the high-20s °F to the teens, then single digits, and now below 0°F. • Overcast skies today with moderate easterly winds and plenty of blowing and drifting snow. • Snowfall was very light for most of the day but picked up around sundown with rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour. • Air temperatures this evening above 6000’ range from 0°F at the western end of the Program to -18 °F at the eastern end.
Avalanche
- Size
- D1 R1
- Type
- SS
- Count
- 2
- Aspect
- N
- Elevation
- 5200 ft
Observed from Hwy around 0900. May have been triggered by plow debris?