As of this morning, the potent storm over us is slowly degrading and exiting. The good news is, winds (that were off the chart yesterday) have decreased overnight and snow is still falling. The rain/snow line is just above 1,000′ currently and forecast to lower to around 800′ with slightly cooling temperatures. We should see an additional 4-8″ through the day at the higher elevations with another 3-4″ tonight. Curious of the snow totals so far?
Estimated Storm Totals (beginning 6am yesterday till 6am today):
Girdwood Valley: ~2″ rain lower elevations, 2-3+’ snow high elevations
Turnagain Pass: 1.8″ rain lower elevations, 2-3+’ snow high elevations
Summit Lake: .3″ rain lower elevations, 3-8″ snow high elevations
Recent avalanche activity? There is much uncertainty as to the extent of the natural avalanche cycle yesterday and overnight. As is the case during these stormy conditions, low visibility and darkness hamper visual observations. Nonetheless, we can expect that the mountains are still undergoing significant changes. Upper elevations have seen 2-3+’ of feet of snow in less than 24 hours – and it’s still snowing and blowing… This is a simple rapid loading event and a text book case for how-to-make-avalanches. Hence, steering clear of avalanche terrain (slopes over 30 deg) with nothing above you (avoiding runout zones) is essential.
If we dig a bit deeper into what the mountains are going through and a look to the future, many slopes could be sliding, or will soon, and fill back in. This is what we’d like to see because it helps to clean out the weak layers from November. However, there are those slopes that will hang in the balance and allow the snow to pile up. These are the most likely ones that can get us in trouble when the storm passes. They will still have the weak snow under the new snow, which makes them more susceptible to human triggers, and they will also produce larger avalanches. Telling the difference from slopes that have slid and ones that haven’t can be difficult to impossible. Also, just because a slope slid doesn’t mean it won’t again, especially the first couple days after this cycle. Keep these thoughts in the back of your head as you look forward to enjoying the new snow.
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