These reports for the Aspen area and the Front Range were issued the afternoon of Mar 12 The Front Range Report follows the Aspen Report Aspen ===== Keywords: MODERATE, avalanche danger, cold front, high pressure, slab, sluffs, snowpits, trough, Weather Synopsis The jet stream is currently well to the north of Colorado, and the system that brought snow to the mountains late last week as formed a closed low over northern Texas. Today the closed low will continue to move eastward and the winds will veer to the northeast. High pressure builds over the state, bringing clear, calm and warm weather for the next few days. Mid-level (700 mb) temperatures are forecast to stay above freezing trough Wednesday night when the jet sags southward and a weak cold front moves into northern Colorado. Weather Issued at: 3/12/2007 1:57 PM by Ethan Greene Tonight Forecast Tomorrow Forecast Tomorrow Night Forecast Temperature(°F) 26-31 42-46 24-29 Wind Speed(mph) 5-15 5-15 10-20 Wind Direction Variable NW NW Sky Cover Mostly Clear Mostly Clear Mostly Clear Snow(in) 0 0 0 Snowpack Discussion Two avalanches were reported on Sunday. The first was remotely triggered by a group of skiers as they skinned up a low-angle slope. The avalanche released about 400' above them and the group had to make a mad dash into the trees to escape the slide! The fracture was 2' deep, 200' wide and the avalanche ran about 1200' vertical on a NW facing slope that is near treeline. There was also an avalanche reported on the SE facing side of Highlands Bowl. There are no additional details at this time. Snow profiles from the Aspen zone show fairly high stability scores(CT25 and RB6 and 7) with very energetic fractures (Q1). This means your snowpits may indicate a stable snowpack and you may be able to travel across several slopes, before you trigger a dangerous avalanche. It is obviously possible to trigger deep slab avalanches remotely. Today's avalanche problems are two fold. First, as we transition to spring the treat of wet avalanche activity increases. Sunday's weather may have reduced the abrupt transition to warmer weather, but temperatures will be climbing through Wednesday. Keep an eye out for roller balls, sluffs in rocky areas and other signs of increasing wet activity. These slides will probably be limited to the surface snow, but even small avalanches can be quite dangerous if they push you off a cliff or into trees or a gully. Second, even though it feels like spring you still need to worry about deep slab avalanches. There have been both natural and remotely triggered slides in the last week. The most likely place to trigger a deep slab is a N-E facing slope that is near or above treeline and steeper than about 35 degrees. Avalanche Danger The avalanche danger in the Aspen Zone is overall MODERATE. The most likely place to trigger a slide is on steep (More than 35 degrees) NW-N-NE-E aspect near and above treeline. Front Range =========== LOW, MODERATE, avalanche danger, cold front, high pressure, probes, slab, sluffs, trough, weak layers, wind loaded, Weather Synopsis The jet stream is currently well to the north of Colorado, and the system that brought snow to the mountains late last week as formed a closed low over northern Texas. Today the closed low will continue to move eastward and the winds will veer to the northeast. High pressure builds over the state, bringing clear, calm and warm weather for the next few days. Mid-level (700 mb) temperatures are forecast to stay above freezing trough Wednesday night when the jet sags southward and a weak cold front moves into northern Colorado. Weather Issued at: 3/12/2007 1:45 PM by Ethan Greene Tonight Forecast Tomorrow Forecast Tomorrow Night Forecast Temperature(°F) 21-26 40-45 23-28 Wind Speed(mph) 5-15 10-20 10-20 Wind Direction NW W W Sky Cover Mostly Clear Mostly Clear Mostly Clear Snow(in) 0 0 0 Snowpack Discussion Over the weekend, the Front Range mountains got a shot of snow and a shot of sun. The new snow from Saturday seems to be bonding fairly well to the old snow surface. Reports from around the range describe a soft snow surface and surface sluffs, especially in wind loaded above treeline areas. There are a few notable exceptions including a natural deep slab avalanche that released on Sunday near Berthoud Pass. The slide started at about 11,900' on a NE aspect. The fracture was 3-5' deep, 750' wide and ran about 300' vertically. There was also a human triggered avalanche on a west facing slope on the north side of Berthoud Pass. A snowboarder triggered and was caught in an avalanche than ran down and buried a dog. The snowboarder was buried to his waist. The party found the dog using probes and recovered him alive from under 4' of snow! Today's avalanche problems are two fold. First, as we transition to spring the treat of wet avalanche activity increases. Sunday's weather may have reduced the abrupt transition to warmer weather, but temperatures will be climbing through Wednesday. Keep an eye out for roller balls, sluffs in rocky areas and other signs of increasing wet activity. These slides will probably be limited to the surface snow, but even small avalanches can be quite dangerous if they push you off a cliff or into trees or a gully. Second, even though it feels like spring you still need to worry about deep slab avalanches. There have been both natural and remotely triggered slides over the weekend in the Aspen, Gunnison, Steamboat and Front Range zones. The most likely place to trigger a deep slab is a N-E facing slope that is near or above treeline and steeper than about 35 degrees. The backcountry avalanche danger in the Front Range is MODERATE on all NW-N-NE-E aspects near and above treeline. There are still weak layers on higher elevation, shady aspects. The danger is LOW on other aspects and below treeline. Avalanche Danger The backcountry avalanche danger in the Front Range is MODERATE on all NW-N-NE-E aspects near and above treeline. There are still weak layers on higher elevation, shady aspects. The danger is LOW on other aspects and below treeline.