Quick report
- Red Flags
- Wind Loading, Cracking, Collapsing, Poor Snowpack Structure
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>Plenty of red flags observed today after the storm delivered heavy dense snow with lots of wind.</p>
Around 4-5" at the trailhead this morning with upwards of 10" up near 10,000'.
The storm this weekend brought heavy moisture rich air and dense snow making the Uintas look like something out of the Cascades. Strong northwest winds have been hammering away at the exposed peaks and ridges as the shoulder on Bald Mt. is mostly stripped of snow.
The Lofty Peak weather site looks frosty and covered in rime.
The old snow surface marked with the crystal card is now buried with a fairly dense slab and I experienced widespread collapsing on this weak layer.
Getting around is now a little better with terrain starting to get filled in. Meadows and roads still seem like the best places to ride to avoid the hazards.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>The early season weak sugary snow is now buried with over a foot of new heavy dense snow and I was experiencing fairly wide spread collapsing and cracking in my travels.</p> <p>Only light winds with some moderate gusts today, but the highest peaks and ridges continue to get worked by the northwest winds. </p>
The recent storm snow was on the dense side which is helping to build a base, but it has overloaded the buried weak sugary snow with a dense slab that is sitting on top.