Brief by Central Staff
Recreation – December 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
Avalanche forecasting in Colorado should improve this year, thanks to a new remote weather reporting station at the top of 12,126-foot Cottonwood Pass west of Buena Vista.
Previously, there were no reporting stations in the 75 or so miles between Tennessee and Monarch passes, making the Sawatch Range something of a “black hole” for avalanche forecasts.
The new station has remote sensors that will send weather data to an antenna atop the Gunsmoke Truck Stop in Johnson Village.
The signals then go to the Chaffee County Fire Station on County Road 306 for processing, then to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center in Boulder to be used in forecasts.
The CAIC staff updates local information to an automated system at the Trailhead outdoor shop in Buena Vista, where there’s a dedicated phone number for forecasts: 719-395-4994.
Installing the Cottonwood Pass remote weather station was a community project with many donors and supporters, ranging from some funding by the state to money and transportation from the Buena Vista Snowmobile Club.
So, before you head into the high country this winter, call the local avalanche line, or check the website at www.geosurvey.state.co.us/avalanche .
