Mountain Weather and Avalanche Report





Happy holidays...this is Scott in the Avalanche Center at 6:05 am,
Saturday, December 27, 1997.

_SYNOPSIS_

Today we're looking at several storms stacked up in the Gulf of
Alaska, and one storm dropping SE out of Montana/WY. Expect this first
impulse late this afternoon and tonight will be very cold with little
available juice. Most of the energy passes N & E of CO. It will be
windy up high, especially along the Front Range, 10 Mile, Gore Range,
N Elks and along the Continental Divide. Slight drying by sunrise
Sunday morning, then the next pulse arrives Sunday night. After the
2nd pulse we will begin to see a ridge build over the Great Basin,
models show next system dropping S down Calif. Tooooo far out for
accuracy. The forecast details:



_WEATHER_

Sat: Increasing clouds during the day, chance of showers by afternoon,
0-2" N&C mtns, S mtns partly cloudy. Winds NW 15-25, g's 60's up high.
Hi temps 5-15 N&C mtns, 10-20 S mtns. Wind chills N mtns pretty
brutal.

Sat night:: N&C & N side San Juans mtns Cloudy, S- 2-4". May be
difficult to get an accurate Measurement. S mtns partly cloudy. Winds
NW 15-25, g's 50's. Lo temps 0-5.

Sun: Decreasing snow by noon, 1-3" N&C mtns, S mtns PC. Winds Veer
more NNW & decreasing slightly, 15-25, g's 40-50. High temps 5-15 N&C
mtns, 7-17 S mtns.

Sun night: Better chance of snow after midnight N&C mtns & N side San
Juans, Partly to mostly Cloudy S mtns Winds NW 10-20, g's 40's. Lo's
5-15



_SNOWPACK_

The backcountry avalanche danger for all mountains is rated: [1]LOW
below treeline. Near and above treeline the danger is rated
[2]MODERATE on SW-W-NW aspects. By this afternoon we expect the
danger to increase to [3]CONSIDERABLE on NW-N-E-SE­SW aspects near
& above treeline. At this time there is little available snow for
transport, but strong winds will likely eat into near surface faceted
layers and cause blowing snow. Already this morning along the east
side of the Gore Range there is some blowing snow at the mountain top
levels. Add new snow and stronger winds and we do expect slabs to
form. By Sunday we may be looking at areas of [4]HIGH on lee slopes.
No new slabs reported last 24 hours, but some rather large loose point
releases in surface snow in S&C mtns.

We will update this message Sunday morning....

Happy holidays....

Toepfer