Quick report
- Cracking
- specific
We got out to see how the snow was behaving as the storm arrived. We found touchy snow in wind loaded terrain, with plenty of soft snow left to be blown around. The deepest wind slabs we found were only around 6"-8" deep, but these are growing quickly.
We triggered one small wind slab avalanche on a short but steep roll near the top of Main Bowl. This was a northwest aspect at about 2500', and the avalanche was only 6" deep and maybe 20' wide. We also saw shooting cracks on wind loaded terrain.Weather
- Air Temp
- 37
- Cloud Cover
- overcast
- Wind Loading
- moderate
- Rain Elevation
- 500
- Recent Snowfall
- 1-2"
- Snow Avail For Transport
- moderate amounts
Light rain in Girdwood when we left this morning, still snowing at the pass. Winds were strong out of the east. Precipitation was variable, with some brief periods of heavy snowfall but very little accumulation while we were out. Skies were mostly cloudy, but there were some periods this afternoon when clouds broke up a bit. 37 F in the parking lot at the end of the day.
Snowpack
We did not dig any pits, but the fresh wind slabs forming on top of the faceted snow that formed over the past week were touchy while we were out. I took a close look at the crown of the little avalanche we made and did not see any surface hoar at the bed surface.