Colorado Avalanche Bulletins

This bulletin is from the CAIC, which is an agency of the State of Colorado.

Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC) Advisory

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Issued 03/17/2010 6:31 AM by Scott Toepfer

Highlights

Warm and mild again Wednesday. The snowpack will continue to settle, bond, and gain strength into Thursday. Overnight low temperatures tonight could be fairly mild which means Thursday could see a quicker melt-down. However it looks like increasing clouds and winds will keep the snowpack from doing another melt-down day

aspects today

The avalanche danger for the Grand Mesa zone is with pockets of for wet slide activity this afternoon. These pockets would be on S-SW-W aspects, and mostly found where areas of exposed rock absorb more solar heat and create more melting.

Snow & Avalanche Discussion

Weekend storm snow amounted to 4-5" across the Mesa. A warm start to March helped settle and strengthen the Grand Mesa snowpack. Backcountry users should do fine with normal cautions today into Thursday. Think about some wet slide activity from the warmer aspects this afternoon.

Expect to find shallow sluffing of surface snow especially on sunny slopes as daytime temperatures rise. Be aware of your surroundings, as these shallow slides will not have big consequences unless they carry you into trees, over cliffs, or catch you in terrain traps. As temperatures warm into Thursday, you must also watch for the development of wet, loose activity on sunny, lower elevation aspects.

Plan your trips accordingly so that you avoid these areas at the end of your tours.

Weather Discussion

The high pressure ridge to our west continues to inch eastward. There are some high clouds pushing over the ridge and these will be over us today into Thursday. Wednesday looks to be as warm as Tuesday. Thursday looks similar, although increasing clouds in front of the next trough on Thursday afternoon will keep the snowpack from getting as warm. The next storm system drops southward out of Canada and will bring colder temperatures as well as snow for Thursday night into Friday. Initially it favors the northern and central zones, but there is a short wave impulse for the San Juan near sunrise Friday. A second impulse crosses the state Friday night, again favoring the north and central zones. Our weather looks to begin drying Saturday afternoon as a high pressure ridge builds to the west.

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