Avalanche Danger is High
With the unseasonably warm temperatures and wind, the West Central Avalanche Center has issued a High danger warning for the back country. The advisory will be in effect through Thursday, January 13, due to the Pacific storm that is bringing rain, snow and high winds to western Montana.
The Wednesday morning advisory stated that avalanches may run long distances and travel in avalanche terrain is Not Recommended. The advisory is not for operating ski areas, but is for mainly U.S. Forest Service areas popular with cross-country skiers and snowmobilers.
The heavy wet snow on top of the current snowpack is causing great concern. In the southern Mission Mountains Tuesday, a small human-triggered avalanche was reported and in the southern Bitterroot, small wind slabs were touchy Tuesday. Officials were also concerned about the Rattlesnake avalanche dangers. The combination of heavy snow, wind and warm temperatures are made more dangerous with rainfall. Agai
Avalanche Danger Requires Caution This Week
The Missoula Avalanche Center is busy, watching the snow and wind create some hazardous conditions in our area. In their Tuesday morning advisory, the center listed warning levels as High on leeward slopes and Considerable on all slopes. Wind-drifted snow seems to be the main culprit. As an example, a 79 mile per hour gust was noted on Mount Sentinel. Elsewhere, winds up to 35 mph were common. Avoid traveling on wind loaded slopes is the advice of the day.
You add the wind-loaded areas on top of some weak layers and the possibility of a large avalanche increases. The center had reports of avalanches in the southern Bitterroot Mountains that broke initially on the buried surface hoar in the upper third of the snowpack and stepped down to weak facets near the ground with the crowns being 3 to 4 feet deep. The slides ran full path into runout zones on the valley floor.