VAWS: Weather and Avalanche Forecasting in Southcentral Alaska

Speakers: Carson Jones, Lead Meteorologist, NWS Anchorage, and Mik Dalpes, Avalanche Specialist, Chugach National Forest Avalanche Center

About the webinar: This VAWS webinar examines the complexities of forecasting mountain weather in Alaska and its impacts on snowpack evolution, avalanche hazard, and operational forecasting. It will detail the analytical tools, model guidance, and observational networks used by meteorologists and avalanche forecasters to assess and communicate risk, forecast confidence, and uncertainty across Southcentral Alaska.

Bios:

Carson Jones is a Lead Meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Anchorage, Alaska. After earning his master’s degree in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences with research focused on changing snowpack dynamics in the southern Rockies, Carson joined the Anchorage NWS office, where he now serves as the Avalanche Program Lead. His work centers on mountain weather forecasting and communicating its impact to avalanche forecasters and the greater snow sports and backcountry user community.

Mik Dalpes grew up in Minnesota, where skiing consisted of getting a tow behind a snowmachine and wearing a full face mask at all times. She quickly made her way to Colorado and, while earning a degree in environmental studies and geography from the University of Colorado in Boulder, she began a career in ski patrolling. Mik spent five years at Arapahoe Basin, then transitioned to Alyeska. She finished her eight-year Alyeska career as the Assistant Patrol Director with her loyal co-worker and avalanche dog “Zooka.” At this time, Mik’s summers were spent guiding and teaching sea kayaking and mountaineering for the Outward Bound School in Seward, AK. Her career in the federal government began in 2015 working as a Ranger at Kenai Fjords National Park. Mik spent 4 years in Talkeetna employed as a Mountaineering Ranger for Denali National Park. For a decade Mik has been instructing avalanche courses for the Alaska Avalanche School. Off the field, Mik tells us her favorite things are spending time doing anything with her amazing family, which includes her husband Mark and two kids, Bowen (7) and Tide (4).