Avalanche Risk Ahead For Wyoming
Wyoming and the other Western states have had a lot of snow, so far, this winter.
The mountain snowpack is high.
That's a good thing.
There is a protentional to catch up and fill up our reservoirs from Wyoming to California.
But with the good always comes a little bad.
In this case, a lot of that snow, which skiers and snowmobiles are loving, has become hard and crusty with new layers piling on every week.
In his daily video forecast, Don Day of Day Weather offered a warning to people who love winter sports in the backcountry.
"We are going to have avalanche problems." Said Don Day. "Significant heavy snow and fluctuating temperatures from Arctic conditions, to more of a Pacific pattern, the snow characteristics change the snow on the ground. It gets crusty, and then you get heavy snow on top of that crust, which is a slick layer. So throughout all of the Rockies and the Pacific North West, for you back country folks, you're going to need to heighten your awareness of avalanche dangers."
He goes on to warn that between now and the beginning of January, avalanche dangers will be a concern.
That danger will also be with us this spring.
Scroll 9:03 into this video to hear Don Day talk about this.
Remember what happened last year in Yellowstone?
That type of avalanche and flood does not happen often, but it does happen when we get a heavy crusty snowpack, then spring rains.
So, again, the good news is that we are getting a lot of wet weather that is making up for the past few dry years.
We need to take the good with the bad, as always.
This is part of the cycle of La Nina and El Nino that brings the Western states years of drought followed by years of wet weather.