Well, you never can tell with these storms but I have confirmation that it has been pissing rain all day in LA, San Diego and Phoenix. I also just got word from a weather forecaster in Denver that we will get the brunt of this one. Uhh..VIVA LA NINA for the Southwest…I guess. Really?
Here’s what NOAA has to say:
…MOIST PACIFIC STORM WILL BRING HEAVY SNOW TO SOUTHWEST
COLORADO AND THE MOUNTAINS OF SOUTHEAST UTAH TONIGHT THROUGH
WEDNESDAY MORNING…
.A STRENGTHENING SLOW MOVING PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM WILL BRING
INCREASED MOISTURE ACROSS SOUTHEAST UTAH AND SOUTHWEST COLORADO
FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS. THERE ARE TWO SIGNIFICANT WAVES OF PACIFIC
MOISTURE THAT WILL MOVE ACROSS THE WARNED AND ADVISORY AREAS OF
SOUTHEAST UTAH AND SOUTHWEST COLORADO.
AVALANCHE WATCH FOR THE SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS.
THE COLORADO AVALANCHE INFORMATION CENTER HAS ISSUED AN AVALANCHE
WATCH FOR THE SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS. THIS WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON
TUESDAY AT WHICH POINT THE WATCH WILL BE UPDATED. A STRONG WINTER
STORM WITH HEAVY SNOWFALL WILL BEGIN MONDAY AFTERNOON. LARGE
ACCUMULATIONS OF SNOW ARE POSSIBLE AT HIGH ELEVATIONS. STRONG WINDS
CAUSE SIGNIFICANT DRIFTING NEAR AND ABOVE TREELINE. THE EXISTING
SNOWPACK IS VERY WEAK AND WILL QUICKLY BE OVERLOADED. LARGE NATURAL
AND HUMAN TRIGGERED AVALANCHES ARE LIKELY ON TUESDAY IN THE WATCH
AREAS. TRAVEL IN AVALANCHE TERRAIN OR BELOW STEEP SLOPES IS NOT
RECOMMENDED. BACKCOUNTRY TRAVELERS SHOULD MONITOR WEATHER AND
AVALANCHE FORECASTS…CARRY AVALANCHE RESCUE EQUIPMENT…AND AVOID
STEEP SLOPES.
Obviously, backcountry travel is not recommended during or directly after this storm. We have several facets in our rotten snowpack, a horrible depth hoar layer and now new surface hoar. Hopefully this storm will flush everything out and we can start fresh. Here’s a shot from CAIC:
Please check their website after this storm, it could be very telling. http://avalanche.state.co.us/pub_bc_avo.php?zone_id=7
Lastly, HAPPY 29TH TO JARED VINCENT! Thank you for asking for POW buddy. Can’t wait to rip it.
