Mountain Weather and Avalanche Report



This is Dale at 8:45 on Wednesday, January 21, 1998.

_SYNOPSIS_

Skies over the mountains cleared out last night last night as CO sits
under split flow, however, we do expect some clouds and snow showers
this afternoon as a pair of weak systems...one to the north and one to
the south....nip CO. By late Thursday a NW'erly jet will bring
moisture and some mountain snows to the N&C mtns for Friday. Much
warmer for all mountains on Saturday as a ridge of high pressure will
quickly dash across the state. Details:

_WEATHER_

_Wednesday:_ N&C mtns...mostly sunny early, increasing afternoon
clouds and widely scattered snow showers, 0-2". Winds WNW/5-15 G25. S
mtns...mostly cloudy, scattered afternoon snow showers, 0-2". Winds
SW-W/5-15. Highs all mtns...4-14.

_Wednesday night:_ N&C mtns...mostly cloudy and scattered snow showers
early, 0-2", becoming partly cloudy to mostly clear well after
midnight. S mtns...partly cloudy early though East San Juans could
still see lingering snow showers, skies to become mostly clear late.
Winds all mtns...veering to NW/10-20 G30 by sunrise. Lows all mtns...
-8 to +2, colder in valleys.

_Thursday: _N&C mtns...mostly sunny early, increasing clouds, becoming
mostly cloudy with widely scattered afternoon snow showers. Winds
NW/15-25 G40. S mtns...sunny early, becoming partly cloudy in
afternoon. Winds NW/10-20 G30. Highs all mtns...7-17.

_SNOWPACK_

With very light winds and no new snow over night...though most areas
got 1-2" during the day Tuesday... I will drop the [1]Avalanche
Warning this morning as the natural cycle is over, however, the
avalanche conditions will remain dangerous for triggered releases by
backcountry travelers. Locally in the Red Mtn Pass-Telluride-Lizard
Head Pass area and for the C&N mtns the danger is rated an overall
[2]CONSIDERABLE. Unstable slabs are probable and so too are triggered
releases. Mid-pack and deep instabilities still exist and backcountry
travelers need to use extra caution. Be alert for "whumpfing" sounds
and/or cracks shooting out from under foot...nature's way of telling
you to back off and stick to less-steep terrain. In the rest of the
West San Juans...Silverton and southward the danger is [3]MODERATE
with pockets of [4]CONSIDERABLE on wind-drifted slopes and gullies.
The most suspect slopes are the NW-NE-E aspects. In the East San Juans
the danger is an over all [5]MODERATE. Triggered releases are
possible. Since the warning was first issued last Friday more than 440
avalanches were reported. Also 16 people were reported caught, but
there were no serious injuries. The rest of the western states were
not so lucky. Avalanches over the weekend killed 7, all snowmobilers.
Four died in MT; 2 in UT and 1 in WA. These deaths bring the US toll
to 15, but only 1 has occurred in CO.

The snow conditions we've reported are based on observations and field
data. Use this information for guidance only. You may find different
conditions in the back-country and should travel accordingly.

We will update this message on Thursday morning....

Atkins