Hwy 20

The day was more pleasant than expected, with no wind along the highway or visible at higher elevations, no precipitation, and more morning sun than planned. Snow surfaces were generally soft, and it was nice to see at least a bit of snow down to lower elevations for the first time this year. Although my sampling from the highway was small, I didn't note any new avalanches. I dug a pit at WA Pass, 5400ft, N, and found a very distinct weak, faceted layer, the January Drought Layer, 1 foot down. Failures were very notable on that layer, yet propagation wasn't. 

Snow amounts on the road for the first stretch were relatively low, with about 3 inches in the shallowest spots.

By the time we transitioned into the East North zone at about 2000ft, snow was around 6 inches deep and incrementally increased from there. At Washington Pass I dug a pit and found a very obvious layer of weak snow, the January Drought Layer, a foot beneath the surface. Shovel tilt tests failed on that layer after one tap, but an Extended Column Test failed but didn't propagate, breaking up through the slab instead. I shortened the block to 60cm long and the failure propagated the entire shortened column. Snow at the surface was very soft, with a new 3cm layer of stellars from overnight. I searched for facets or surface hoar beneath last night's snow but couldn't find any.