Good morning this is Sue Burak with the Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center with an avalanche advisory posted on Thursday February 14, 2008. MOUNTAIN WEATHER After another significant wind event occurred yesterday with Bishop getting hit the hardest with downed trees in town. Strong winds will continue today at higher elevations like Tioga Pass, Mammoth Mountain and the Bishop Creek drainage. This Tioga Pass and Ellery Lake have recorded wind gusts in the 50-60 mph range while lower elevations like Lee Vining Hill have gusts to 40 mph. Northeast wind gusts of over 100 mph are occurring this morning at the top of Mammoth Mountain. The 8,000 to 9,000 ft elevations will be breezy today with north winds in the 15-25 mph range. Strong northeast winds will continue most of the day with gusts up to 60 mph on the ridgetops. Morning lows are 20-30 colder this morning than yesterdays morning temperatures. Rock Creek is the coldest with -12F at 5 AM. Todays high temperatures will be 20-25 F colder than Tuesday: Bishop reached 71F and Dana Meadows and Ellery Lake were 56 and 59 respectively. Mammoth Pass at 9,400 ft had a high of 61F. Crowley Lake and Lee Vining will see highs in the upper 30s. Thursday night will be cold at all elevations with lows in the single digits above 10,000 ft and around 10-15 F at the 7,000 to 9,500 ft elevations. The cold air associated with this nuisance storm will stick around until the ridge rebuilds Thursday night and into Friday. There will be a warming trend through Sunday with daytime highs reaching the mid to upper 40s at 9,000 to 10,000 ft. Long range forecasts suggest a wet pattern developing next week as MJO activity moves eastward across the Pacific. SNOWPACK AND AVALANCHE DISCUSSION Yesterdays winds moved a lot of snow around on the high peaks and ridges. Wind directions were unusually varied for a wind event. Rather than steady wind directions most stations and visual observations showed winds from the north, the southwest and northwest. Snow was redistributed to north facing aspects earlier in the day. When north winds arrived, the southern aspects received snow. In addition to wind drifted snow, an inch or two fell last night in sheltered locations. The avalanche danger is MODERATE today in isolated areas in steep terrain with recent deposits of wind drifted snow. In non-wind affected terrain, the danger remains LOW. Conditions may vary dramatically from place to place so be sure to test slopes carefully as you travel along. Once the cold air mass moves east, skies will clear and temperatures will warm to the 40s and low 50s by the weekend. There could be increased wet snow avalanche danger on southern aspects by the weekend. This advisory will be updated on Saturday morning. BOTTOM LINE The avalanche danger is MODERATE today in isolated areas in steep terrain with recent deposits of wind drifted snow. In non-wind affected terrain, the danger remains LOW. Conditions may vary dramatically from place to place so be sure to test slopes carefully as you travel along. Please note that the avalanche danger rating in this advisory expires in 24 hours. This advisory is our best interpretation of snow pack conditions and NWS forecasts issued today. Backcountry travelers should be aware that elevation and geographic distinctions are approximate and that a transition zone exists between upper and lower elevations. Avalanches do not happen by accident and most human involvement is a matter of choice not chance. Most avalanche accidents are caused by slab avalanches that are triggered by the victim of member of the victim's party. Even small slides can be dangerous. Always practice route finding skills and carry avalanche rescue gear. Remember that avalanche danger ratings are only general guidelines. Distinctions between geographic areas, elevations, slope aspects and slope angles should be made.