| Posted: 12:06 p.m., Sunday, December 7, 2003 |
These past 24 hours have been the most beautiful thing an avalanche forecaster's eyes could ever see. I wept with joy at the beauty of each flake. We have received 76cm (30 inches) of snow at Hermit Lake and 69 cm (27 inches) at the Havard Cabin in the past 24 hours. And it's still snowing!! Hermit Lake densities averaged at 8.7% with Havard Plot a bit higher at 9.2%. The average densities with these depths are difficult to measure with a great degree of accuracy unless you are mearsuring at 6 hour intervals. However we do feel confident with our recordings with a slight margin of error being possible. We have been getting lighter snow as the storm progressed through the night. The last 20cm (8 inches) measured in at a fluffy 4.2%.
Several areas in both Ravines had limited snow coverage before the storm. However, with the amounts of snow and the current and potenial loading I believe it is appropriate to call all areas Extreme. Winds have wrapped to the NE over the past few hours. This will increase the loading of Southern aspects and crossing loading of others. Winds will continue to wrap over the next 24 hours towards the NW. Both ravines should see intense loading over the next 36-48 hours. By the time this storm moves out of the region we could get close to a 1 meter (39 inches) of snow on Mt. Washington! The next couple of days could be very interesting.
Due to the very high amounts of snow it is a very good idea to give the hills some time to avalanche, consolidate and settle out. With the intense work out required to get around right now it may be a good time to hit the chair lifts and enjoy the easy ride to fun.
THE LION HEAD SUMMER TRAIL IS CLOSED. THE WINTER ROUTE IS OPEN. SIGNS ARE BEING SWITCHED AS I WRITE. BE AWARE THAT DUE TO THE STORM THE UPPER WINTER SIGN WILL NOT GO UP UNTIL IS POSSIBLE FOR US TO GET UP THERE. REALIZE DEEP SNOW AND LOW VISIBILITY WILL MAKE TRAVEL ABOVE TREELINE EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS. EXPECT BLIZZARD CONDITIONS.
AS ALWAYS, THIS ADVISORY IS ONE MORE TOOL TO HELP YOU MAKE YOUR OWN DECISIONS IN AVALANCHE TERRAIN. It should be used along with your own snow stability assessments, knowledge of safe travel techniques, skill in reading mountain weather's effect on the snowpack, and avalanche rescue.
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