CNFAIC Avalanche Advisory (Turnagain Pass Area)

Tuesday, March 9th 2010 Current Advisory (Turnagain Area)

Matt Murphy — 2010-03-09T17:18:00+01:00

Danger Rating: Considerable
Trend: Decreasing Danger

Good morning backcountry travelers this is Matt Murphy with the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center on Tuesday March 9th, 2010 at 7 am. This will serve as a general backcountry avalanche advisory issued for Turnagain Arm with Turnagain Pass as the core advisory area (this advisory does not apply to highways, railroads, or operating ski areas).

WEATHER ROUNDUP
-The winds have backed off at all ridge top weather stations since the height of the storm yesterday. Average winds speeds are light this morning between 3mph-14mph with strong gusts up to 26mph.
-In the last 24 hours (5am-5am), the snotel sites recorded: 2.3 inches of water and 22 inches of new snow at Grandview, and 0.7 inches of water and 11 inches snow at Summit Creek, Turnagain Pass is not working right now, but I measured 22� of new snow in the motorized parking lot yesterday at 3pm.
-The current radar shows some precip over Prince William Sound heading toward Cordova, but the Kenai radar shows light to moderate precip directly over Turnagain Pass and Girdwood heading toward Anchorage.
-Temps have cooled off at all wx stations this morning by 4-6 degrees since the height of the storm yesterday. Current temps are 24 degrees F at sea-level and 14 degrees F at 3800�.

AVALANCHE DISCUSSION
Today�s avalanche danger will decrease to CONSIDERABLE due to a less intense weather forecast for the next 24 hours, but DANGEROUS avalanche conditions still exist.

According to the weather stations, the majority of the precip from this storm had already hit our area by yesterday afternoon to early evening. Looking out the window, I�m seeing about a foot of new snow on my truck in Girdwood this morning. The Kenai Mountain snotel sites, however, look like they are recording less precip than Girdwood with only 0.1-0.6 inches of water since yesterday at 3pm at Summit and Grandview compared to 1.2 inches in Girdwood in that same time frame. It�s too bad that the Turnagain Pass snotel site is not working today, but I checked all the parking lot snow stakes yesterday at 3pm and found 22� of new snow on the northern end of Turnagain Pass and 15� new snow at the southern end of the Pass. I�m sure the storm total exceeds 2 feet of new snow at Turnagain Pass this morning. Winds have backed off at all ridge top weather stations this morning, and temps are cooling off as well.

The structure of the snowpack right now is a big glob of storm snow and wind slabs without persistent buried weak layers. There will be weak interfaces within the old snow/new snow and within the new storm snow that could be reactive to human triggers today and create dangerous avalanches. This was a BIG storm that RAPIDLY loaded the snowpack with lots of new weight. These are two big red flags waving in your face. You have to give the snowpack time to adjust after a storm like this. Remember that 90% of all avalanches occur during storms and within 24 hours following storms. We are still in that time frame, do not take your chances on steep slopes today.

Terrain steeper than 35 degrees will be dangerous today. Although the weather has backed off, natural avalanches are still possible today, however, human triggered avalanches are the main danger today. The danger rating of CONSIDERABLE is the most dangerous rating for the human factor. When the avalanche danger is high or extreme, most people do not travel in the mountains. Now that the weather has backed off, this is the time when people start to venture out into the mountains. This is when people�s goals and objectives intersect with unstable snow. Most avalanche fatalities occur when the danger scale reads CONSIDERABLE, just like today. Simply waiting a day or two for the snowpack to adjust could mean the difference between life and death. Don�t get lured into the �I love big dumps� syndrome. Don't put yourself on steep terrain today.

WEATHER FORECAST (National Weather Service)
WESTERN PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND-
INCLUDING...WHITTIER...SEWARD...GIRDWOOD...MOOSE PASS
500 AM AKST TUE MAR 9 2010

.TODAY...SNOW SHOWERS. SNOW ACCUMULATION 1 TO 4 INCHES...HIGHEST
AMOUNTS NORTH OF MOOSE PASS. HIGHS IN THE MID 20S TO LOWER 30S.
VARIABLE WIND 15 MPH. NEAR WHITTIER...WEST WIND 15 TO 30 MPH SHIFTING
TO THE EAST 15 TO 20 MPH BY NOON.
.TONIGHT...SNOW SHOWERS. SNOW ACCUMULATION UP TO 2 INCHES EXCEPT 2 TO
4 INCHES NORTH OF MOOSE PASS. LOWS 5 TO 20 ABOVE. VARIABLE WIND 15
MPH. NEAR SEWARD...NORTH WIND 20 TO 30 MPH.
.WEDNESDAY...NUMEROUS SNOW SHOWERS. SNOW ACCUMULATION 1 TO 2 INCHES.
HIGHS 15 TO 20. VARIABLE WIND 10 MPH EXCEPT NORTH AND WEST 20 TO 35
MPH NEAR SEWARD AND WHITTIER.

Temperature / Precipitation
SEWARD 28 9 19 / 100 70 20
GIRDWOOD 26 10 17 / 100 100 60

Short Term Weather Model Forecasts (NAM, WRF, GFS) for the Kenai Mountains near Turnagain Pass
Sea-level: temps are forecasted between 10-26 and between 0.25� of water forecasted
3000�: temps are forecasted in the range of 5-14 degrees F with winds 10-15 mph
6000�: temps are forecasted in the range of -4-5 degrees F with winds 10-30 mph

WEATHER STATION SUMMARY for last 24 hours at TURNAGAIN PASS
3800�-Sunburst Wx Station
Current Temp: 14 (2 degrees warmer than yesterday; although cooling off since last night)
Winds: In last 24 hours winds have been light to extreme averaging 3-63mph with extreme gusts up to 94mph

2600�-Seattle Ridge Wx Station
Winds: In last 24 hours winds have been calm to strong averaging 0-36mph with an extreme gust of 58mph

1800�-Center Ridge Wx Station
Current Temp: not working
Precip: not working

Thanks for checking today�s avalanche advisory. The next one will be posted tomorrow Wednesday March 10, 2010.

Monday, March 8th 2010 Current Advisory (Turnagain Area)

Lisa Portune — 2010-03-08T16:59:00+01:00

Danger Rating: High
Trend: Increasing Danger

Good morning backcountry travelers this is Lisa Portune with the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center on Monday, March 8th at 7am. This will serve as a general backcountry avalanche advisory issued for Turnagain Arm with Turnagain Pass as the core advisory area (this advisory does not apply to highways, railroads, or operating ski areas).

WEATHER ROUNDUP
After a beautiful bluebird day yesterday, another major storm moved onshore early this morning. Hold onto your hats as this storm is shaping up to be like last Friday�s storm. The NWS has issued a blizzard warning in effect until 6pm tonight. It started snowing around 3am this morning, so only a couple inches of snow have fallen so far. Ridgetop winds started to pick up around midnight last night and are currently averaging 40-50mph out of the east gusting to 63mph. Temperatures have increased by about 10 degrees in the last 6 hours and currently range from 30F at sea level to 12F at 3800 feet. It is snowing sideways in Girdwood right now, and the winds are plastering the snow to my window as I write. We could get up to 2 feet of snow at the higher elevations today with an additional 6-14 inches this evening. Gale to storm force easterly winds averaging 40-65mph and hurricane force gusts over 75mph are forecasted for today.

AVALANCHE DISCUSSION
The avalanche danger will increase to HIGH today as this storm progresses. Human-triggered avalanches will be very likely on steep windloaded slopes with natural avalanches likely on actively loading slopes greater than 35 degrees. Storm force easterly winds and up to 2 feet of snow today at the higher elevations equals dangerous avalanche conditions. Travel in avalanche terrain is not recommended.

The cold light density snow that is falling right now at the higher elevations will be the foundation for the rest of today�s snowfall, so I would expect the initial bonding with the old snow surface to be poor. The old snow surface varies from powder to soft windslab to supportable hardslab to windhammered boilerplate. There are probably thin suncrusts on southerly aspects as well from yesterday�s intense sunshine. In other words, there are many areas with slick bed surfaces for today�s avalanches. As temperatures warm up and the wind continues to form fresh windslabs, an increasingly top-heavy slab will form on top of the lighter density snow creating unstable conditions. Visibly drifting snow and shooting cracks are the most obvious clues to windslab formation.

A glide crack in the upper Girdwood Valley around 2300 feet avalanched yesterday morning when temperatures bottomed out to the low single digits. We also received a report of some wet loose snow sluffs triggered by skiers yesterday on the steep southerly slopes of Goat Mountain in the upper Girdwood Valley. Despite the single digit temperatures, the March sun was strong enough to melt the snow surface.

Matt will issue the next advisory tomorrow morning at 7am. Thanks and have a great day.

The NWS weather forecast for:
WESTERN PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND-
INCLUDING...WHITTIER...SEWARD...GIRDWOOD...MOOSE PASS
500 AM AKST MON MAR 8 2010

...BLIZZARD WARNING NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM AKST THIS EVENING
THROUGH PORTAGE VALLEY AND TURNAGAIN ARM...

.TODAY...SNOW. SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW REDUCING VISIBILITY TO ONE
QUARTER MILE OR LESS THROUGH PORTAGE VALLEY AND TURNAGAIN ARM. SNOW
MAY BE HEAVY AT TIMES IN THE MORNING. SNOW ACCUMULATION 5 TO 12
INCHES...HEAVIEST NORTH OF MOOSE PASS. HIGHS IN THE LOWER 30S. NORTH
TO EAST WIND 15 TO 30 EXCEPT EAST 50 TO 65 MPH THROUGH PORTAGE VALLEY
AND TURNAGAIN ARM.
.TONIGHT...SNOW...POSSIBLY MIXING WITH RAIN AT SEA LEVEL IN THE
EVENING. SNOW ACCUMULATION 2 TO 6 INCHES. LOWS IN THE MID 20S TO
LOWER 30S. NORTH AND EAST WIND 15 TO 30 MPH BECOMING SOUTH AND EAST
AFTER MIDNIGHT. THROUGH PORTAGE VALLEY AND TURNAGAIN ARM...EAST WIND
30 TO 45 MPH DECREASING TO 15 TO 30 MPH AFTER MIDNIGHT.
.TUESDAY...SNOW SHOWERS. SNOW ACCUMULATION 1 TO 4 INCHES. HIGHS
IN THE MID 20S TO LOWER 30S. SOUTHEAST WIND 10 TO 25 MPH.

TEMPERATURE / PRECIPITATION

SEWARD 33 30 30 / 100 100 80
GIRDWOOD 31 27 29 / 90 90 80

WEATHER STATION SUMMARY for Turnagain Pass:
-3800� Sunburst Wx Station-
recorded light winds yesterday averaging 5-15mph out of the west shifting to the south. The current temp is 12F (14 degrees warmer than yesterday) with gale force winds averaging 40-50mph out of the east gusting to 63mph.

-2600� Seattle Ridge Wx Station-
is currently recording moderate southeasterly winds averaging 20mph with gusts to 34mph.

-1800� Center Ridge Wx Station-
recorded no new snow in the last 24 hours. The current temp is 19F (13 degrees warmer than yesterday) with a total snowpack depth of 122 inches (3 inches of settlement since yesterday).

Sunday, March 7th 2010 Current Advisory (Turnagain Area)

Lisa Portune — 2010-03-07T16:40:00+01:00

Danger Rating: Moderate
Trend: NO TREND Danger

Good morning backcountry travelers this is Lisa Portune with the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center on Sunday, March 7th at 7am. This will serve as a general backcountry avalanche advisory issued for Turnagain Arm with Turnagain Pass as the core advisory area (this advisory does not apply to highways, railroads, or operating ski areas).

WEATHER ROUNDUP
Since February 25, Turnagain Pass has received 5.5 feet of snow and 7 inches of water with even more at the higher elevations. It has pretty much snowed nine out of the last ten days! The pass picked up 1 inch of snow yesterday while ridgetop winds were light and variable. Temperatures took a serious nose dive in the last 24 hours and currently range from -2F at 3800 feet to 15F at sea level. As of 4am this morning, skies are mostly cloudy with ridgetop winds averaging 15 mph out of the west gusting to 27mph. Today is the calm before the next major storm rolls in tonight. Expect clearing skies later today, winter-like temperatures from zero to ten degrees, and light to moderate southerly winds averaging 10-20mph.

AVALANCHE DISCUSSION
Today the avalanche danger is rated MODERATE. Natural avalanches are unlikely, but human-triggered avalanches will be possible on windloaded slopes steeper than 35 degrees. Our main concern today is sensitive windslab above treeline where the snowpack is more wind-affected from Friday�s big storm. Windslabs 6-18 inches thick were reactive to human triggers on steep test slopes yesterday.

Jon and I toured up Tincan yesterday and found no signs of instability on the non-wind-affected snow below treeline. Above treeline, the snowpack varied from powder to soft windslab to completely supportable hardslab. The windslabs we intentionally triggered on small test slopes failed on the softer snow underneath and generally did not propagate very far. The harder windslabs were more reactive than the soft slabs, fracturing up to 10 feet wide on small rollovers approaching 40 degrees.

Most of these windslabs are small and manageable slabs that will fracture right under your skis, board, or sled. Ski cuts are very effective with the softer slabs if you know how to do them safely. The main hazard would be unexpectedly triggering one above steep complex terrain. Harder, drum-like windslabs also exist, especially at the higher elevations above 2500 feet. These are the ones to look out for because they could fracture unexpectedly above you.

I will issue the next advisory tomorrow morning at 7am. If you get out in the backcountry give us a call at 754-2369 or send us your observations using the button at the top of this page. Thanks and have a great day.

The NWS weather forecast for:
WESTERN PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND-
INCLUDING...WHITTIER...SEWARD...GIRDWOOD...MOOSE PASS
500 AM AKST SUN MAR 7 2010

...BLIZZARD WATCH IN EFFECT FROM LATE TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY
AFTERNOON THROUGH PORTAGE VALLEY AND TURNAGAIN ARM...

.TODAY...NUMEROUS SNOW SHOWERS IN THE MORNING NORTH OF MOOSE
PASS...THEN BECOMING PARTLY SUNNY. ADDITIONAL SNOW ACCUMULATION UP TO
2 INCHES. HIGHS IN THE LOWER TO MID 20S. NORTH TO WEST WIND 10 TO
15 MPH BECOMING VARIABLE IN THE AFTERNOON. THROUGH PORTAGE
VALLEY AND TURNAGAIN ARM...WEST WIND 15 TO 25 MPH SHIFTING TO THE
EAST 10 TO 20 MPH IN THE AFTERNOON.
.TONIGHT...SNOW DEVELOPING IN THE EVENING. SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW
POSSIBLY REDUCING VISIBILITY TO ONE QUARTER MILE OR LESS AFTER
MIDNIGHT THROUGH PORTAGE VALLEY AND TURNAGAIN ARM. SNOW ACCUMULATION
3 TO 8 INCHES. TEMPERATURES STEADY IN THE LOWER TO MID 20S. NORTH TO
EAST WIND 10 TO 15 MPH INCREASING TO 15 TO 30 MPH AFTER MIDNIGHT.
THROUGH PORTAGE VALLEY AND TURNAGAIN ARM...EAST WIND 15 TO 30 MPH
INCREASING TO 30 TO 45 MPH TOWARD MORNING.
.MONDAY...SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW POSSIBLY REDUCING VISIBILITY TO ONE
QUARTER MILE OR LESS THROUGH PORTAGE VALLEY AND TURNAGAIN ARM. SNOW
MIXING WITH RAIN AT SEA LEVEL IN THE AFTERNOON. SNOW ACCUMULATION 4
TO 8 INCHES. HIGHS IN THE 30S. NORTH TO EAST WIND 20 TO 35 MPH EXCEPT
EAST 50 TO 65 MPH THROUGH PORTAGE VALLEY AND TURNAGAIN ARM.

TEMPERATURE / PRECIPITATION

SEWARD 24 24 35 / 0 100 100
GIRDWOOD 22 22 33 / 70 80 70

WEATHER STATION SUMMARY for Turnagain Pass:
-3800� Sunburst Wx Station-
recorded calm to light winds yesterday averaging 0-15mph. The current temp is -2F (17 degrees colder than yesterday) with light winds averaging 15mph out of the west.

-2600� Seattle Ridge Wx Station-
is not working.

-1800� Center Ridge Wx Station-
recorded 1 inch of new snow in the last 24 hours. The current temp is 6F (15 degrees colder than yesterday) with a total snowpack depth of 125 inches (5 inches of settlement in the last 24 hours/11 inches of settlement in the last 42 hours).

Saturday, March 6th 2010 Current Advisory (Turnagain Area)

Carl Skustad — 2010-03-06T17:51:00+01:00

Danger Rating: Considerable
Trend: Steady Danger

Good morning backcountry travelers this is Carl Skustad with the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center on Saturday, March 6th 2010 at 7 am. This will serve as a general backcountry avalanche advisory issued for Turnagain Arm with Turnagain Pass as the core advisory area (this advisory does not apply to highways, railroads, or operating ski areas).

WEATHER ROUNDUP
Wow, that was a good one. A large snow storm moved through the advisory area yesterday depositing lots off snow and very high winds. Snow totals in inches are: Girdwood ~16, Alyeska Mid 16+, Alyeska Top ~24, Turnagain Pass's Center Ridge 17, and Summit ~6. Areas received from 1.07 to 1.97 inches of water and ridge top winds gust to 93 mph. Most of the storm was over by mid afternoon. Snowpack settlement of 6-8 inches has since occurred.

The current radar shows light scattered snow showers moving over the area today. 1-4 inches of snow is forecasted for today.

AVALANCHE DISCUSSION
Today�s avalanche danger is CONSIDERABLE with pockets of HIGH. Dangerous avalanche conditions. Careful snowpack evaluation, cautious routefinding and conservative decision making will be essential. Natural avalanches possible today and likely in some areas, human triggered avalanches likely and very likely in some areas. Large avalanches are very possible today.

We have limited observations and certainty in the actual stability yesterday's storm left us. Large amounts of snow, wind, and water weight stressed the snowpack. A natural avalanche cycle of some magnitude certainly happened yesterday. The underlying snowpack and the large amount of settlement that already occurred will help in rebounding our snow stability. However, we are within the 24 hour period following a very large snow event. Human triggered avalanche will happen today. If an avalanche did not already happen naturally, it may be waiting for a trigger, don't be that trigger. There's a chance that if you trigger an avalanche today it will be very large and inescapable.

Make conservative choices today as the snowpack adjusts to the new snowload.

Safe backcountry travel requires training and experience. You control your own risk by choosing where, when and how you travel.

WEATHER FORECAST (National Weather Service)
WESTERN PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND-
INCLUDING...WHITTIER...SEWARD...GIRDWOOD...MOOSE PASS
500 AM AKST SAT MAR 6 2010

.TODAY...SNOW SHOWERS. SNOW ACCUMULATION 1 TO 4 INCHES. HIGHS IN
THE UPPER 20S TO LOWER 30S. SOUTH TO EAST WIND 10 TO 25 MPH BECOMING
VARIABLE 10 MPH IN THE AFTERNOON. THROUGH PORTAGE VALLEY AND
TURNAGAIN ARM...SOUTHEAST WIND 25 TO 40 MPH BECOMING VARIABLE 15 MPH
BY NOON.
.TONIGHT...NUMEROUS SNOW SHOWERS NORTH OF MOOSE PASS IN THE
EVENING...THEN MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS. MOSTLY
CLOUDY ELSEWHERE. SNOW ACCUMULATION UP TO 2 INCHES. LOWS 5 TO 20
ABOVE. LIGHT WINDS EXCEPT WEST WIND 20 TO 35 MPH NEAR WHITTIER AND
NORTH 10 TO 20 MPH NEAR SEWARD.
.SUNDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY. ISOLATED SNOW SHOWERS IN THE MORNING...
THEN A CHANCE OF SNOW IN THE AFTERNOON. HIGHS IN THE 20S.
VARIABLE WIND 10 MPH. THROUGH PORTAGE VALLEY AND TURNAGAIN ARM...
LIGHT WINDS BECOMING SOUTHEAST 10 TO 20 MPH IN THE AFTERNOON.
.SUNDAY NIGHT...SNOW. AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW. LOWS 15 TO 25. EAST WIND
10 TO 15 MPH. THROUGH PORTAGE VALLEY AND TURNAGAIN ARM...EAST WIND 15
TO 30 MPH INCREASING TO 35 TO 50 MPH AFTER MIDNIGHT.
.MONDAY...SNOW...POSSIBLY MIXED WITH RAIN. AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW.
HIGHS IN THE 30S. EAST WIND 15 TO 30 MPH EXCEPT EAST 40 TO 55 MPH
THROUGH PORTAGE VALLEY AND TURNAGAIN ARM.

TEMPERATURE / PRECIPITATION

SEWARD 32 14 25 / 80 40 50
GIRDWOOD 32 18 23 / 100 60 40

WEATHER STATION SUMMARY for last 24 hours at TURNAGAIN PASS

3800�-Sunburst Wx Station
Current Temp: 14 (1 deg cooler than yesterday)
Winds: have calmed down since yesterday, with averages in the 20's and gusts in the 40's out of the east. Yesterday we saw average winds in the 50's and gusts in the 80's

2600�-Seattle Ridge Wx Station
Winds: have calmed to high teen averages and gusts in the 20's out of the SE. Yesterday gusts reached the 60's.

1800�-Center Ridge Wx Station
Current Temp: 22 degrees (1 degrees cooler than yesterday)
Precip: 17 inches of snow, 1.8 inches of water equivalent, total snowpack depth of 130� after 6 inches of settlement.

Thanks for checking today�s avalanche advisory. The next one will be posted tomorrow Sunday March 7th, 2010.

Friday, March 5th 2010 Current Advisory (Turnagain Area)

Carl Skustad — 2010-03-05T16:53:00+01:00

Danger Rating: High
Trend: Increasing Danger

Good morning backcountry travelers this is Carl Skustad with the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center on Friday March 5th, 2010 at 7 am. This will serve as a general backcountry avalanche advisory issued for Turnagain Arm with Turnagain Pass as the core advisory area (this advisory does not apply to highways, railroads, or operating ski areas).

WEATHER ROUNDUP
Another 3 inches of snow fell in the Girdwod Valley last night. No new snow in Turnagain Pass. Yesterday we measured 24 inches of snow in Turnagain Pass from the Tuesday - Wednesday night snow event. Winds were calm to moderate yesterday. Some wind transport was noted in the alpine. The big news is the current storm moving on shore this morning from Prince William Sound. Expect snow to start any minute now. The Middleton radar is packed full of precip. The NWS has a blizzard warning in effect this morning. The snow line will lift to approximately 400 ft today with 6-12 inches of snow down low and 12-18 inches at 1000 ft. Currently sea level temperatures are 29 deg F. Another 3 to 8 inches is forecasted for tonight.

AVALANCHE DISCUSSION
Today�s avalanche danger will start at CONSIDERABLE and increase to HIGH as the morning snow storm hits our advisory area. If the forecasted snow and wind materialize expect very dangerous avalanche conditions today. Natural avalanches will be likely and human triggered avalanches will be very likely.

Yesterday we climbed to ridgetop elevations in Turnagain Pass to find 24+ inches of 48 hour snow. Below 1500 feet the late Feb rain crust is still damp. From 1500 to 2000 that same layer is slightly refrozen, from 2000 and up that layer is not significant. We did not note any collapsing snow and limited shooting cracks. The winds have stiffened the surface snow in some alpine areas. Snow stability tests at 3000 ft showed moderate stability with failures at the snow event interfaces, 24 hour snow on top of 48 hour snow on top of 72 hour snow.

Although we saw an improvement in snow stability yesterday we are getting attacked by a very large 962 mb low currently. With an increased snow load today our avalanche danger will also increase. I expect to come out of this series of storms with a fairly good coastal snowpack. Our snowpack is already 117 percent of normal at Center Ridge in Turnagain Pass with a total snowpack of 119 inches.

Traveling on slopes steeper than 30 degrees will be dangerous today. Our current snowpack is starting to get tricky in a sense. With this deeper snowpack trigger points become a big deal. The trigger point may not be found by the 1st, 2nd, or 20th rider, but the person that does find the specific trigger point could trigger a deep avalanche that is too difficult to escape. A lot of times these trigger points are on steep rollovers, near rock outcroppings, or where the snow is shallower.

WEATHER FORECAST (National Weather Service)
WESTERN PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND-
INCLUDING...WHITTIER...SEWARD...GIRDWOOD...MOOSE PASS
500 AM AKST FRI MAR 5 2010

...BLIZZARD WARNING NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON AKST TODAY ALONG
TURNAGAIN ARM AND PORTAGE VALLEY AND SOUTH TO TURNAGAIN PASS...

.TODAY...SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW REDUCING VISIBILITY TO ONE QUARTER
MILE OR LESS TURNAGAIN PASS NORTHWARD. RAIN MIXED WITH SNOW AT SEA
LEVEL IN THE AFTERNOON. SNOW MAY BE HEAVY AT TIMES. SNOW ACCUMULATION
6 TO 12 INCHES. HIGHS IN THE LOWER TO MID 30S. SOUTH AND EAST WIND 15
TO 30 MPH WITH LOCAL GUSTS TO 45 MPH IN THE MORNING. THROUGH PORTAGE
VALLEY AND TURNAGAIN ARM...EAST WIND 70 TO 85 MPH DECREASING TO 35 TO
50 MPH IN THE AFTERNOON.
.TONIGHT...SNOW. AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW. SNOW ACCUMULATION 4 TO 8
INCHES. LOWS IN THE MID 20S TO LOWER 30S. SOUTHEAST WIND 10 TO 25 MPH
EXCEPT SOUTHEAST 30 TO 45 MPH THROUGH PORTAGE VALLEY AND
TURNAGAIN ARM.
.SATURDAY...NUMEROUS SNOW SHOWERS. SNOW ACCUMULATION 1 TO
2 INCHES. HIGHS AROUND 30. SOUTHEAST WIND 10 TO 25 MPH EXCEPT
EAST 20 TO 35 MPH THROUGH PORTAGE VALLEY AND TURNAGAIN ARM.
.SATURDAY NIGHT...NUMEROUS SNOW SHOWERS. LOWS 5 TO 20 ABOVE.
VARIABLE WIND TO 10 MPH. NEAR SEWARD...NORTH WIND 10 TO 15 MPH.
.SUNDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS. HIGHS IN THE
LOWER TO MID 20S. VARIABLE WIND TO 10 MPH. NEAR WHITTIER...WEST WIND
10 TO 20 MPH SHIFTING TO THE EAST 10 TO 15 MPH IN THE AFTERNOON.

TEMPERATURE / PRECIPITATION

SEWARD 37 29 31 / 100 100 70
GIRDWOOD 36 30 31 / 100 100 70

WEATHER STATION SUMMARY for last 24 hours at TURNAGAIN PASS
3800�-Sunburst Wx Station
Current Temp: 15 (5 deg cooler than yesterday)
Winds: have just started rippin, with averages in the 60's and gust near 90 mph out of the east.

2600�-Seattle Ridge Wx Station
Winds: have picked up with averages in the 40's and gusts in the 70's out of the southeast.

1800�-Center Ridge Wx Station
Current Temp: 23 degrees (4 degrees cooler than yesterday)
Precip: 0 new water, 0 new snow, total snowpack depth of 119� after 3 inches of settlement.

Thanks for checking today�s avalanche advisory. The next one will be posted tomorrow Saturday March 6th, 2010.