The 8,400' Snotel near Tony Grove Lake reports 20°F and 22 inches of total snow, with around 16 inches of heavy snow containing 2.8" of Snow Water Equivalent from yesterday's storm! Yesterday, the wind sensor at the 9700' CSI Logan Peak weather station recorded sustained 30 to 40 mph west-southwest winds with gusts in the mid 60s. This morning winds have diminished and are blowing out of the west at 15 to 20 mph.
Very shallow early season snow conditions exist, with not much more than about a foot of total snow covering the rocks on most upper elevation slopes before yesterday's storm. Extreme caution is required to avoid hitting shallowly buried rocks, stumps, or down trees. Avalanches are becoming increasingly possible, and dangerous conditions may develop on upper elevation slopes with this weekend's powerful storm. The main issue today will be deposits of wind-drifted heavy new snow that could produce soft slab avalanches. The snow is so shallow that people could sustain serious injuries if they are caught and carried over rocks in even a small avalanche.
Even if you're not planning to get onto the snow, it's never too early to start thinking about avalanches. A few things to consider doing:
- Attend USAW and learn more about avalanches and decision making. (scroll down to the bottom of this page for more info and links)
- Sign up for an avalanche class.
- Take the all-new online avalanche courses the UAC built for Know Before You Go or take other online courses listed on the KBYG website (Develop skills -> Online Learning).
- Get your avalanche rescue gear ready for winter. Put fresh batteries in your transceiver and update the firmware. Inspect your shovel and probe. Get your airbag backpack ready by possibly doing a test deployment and update the firmware if it is an electric version.
