Quick report
- Red Flags
- Rapid Warming
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>Main red flag is the rapid warming and saturation of previously dry snow below 8000ft. Above 8000ft snowpack structure is improving with lack of temperature gradient but we still have buried faceted layers that could be an issue. </p>
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>North half of the compass below 8000ft where dry snow has been rapidly warmed. Will be an issue till the cold front comes through Sunday night.</p> <p>The warming of the snowpack has lead to a more cohesive slab above the buried facets from early January. The buried facets are gaining strength as the heat added to the snowpack has eliminated any temperature gradient. Although they are gaining strength we still saw that this layer was able to propagate a fracture in stability tests. This layer may be of concern with new snow forecast for Sunday into Monday.</p>
Highly variable with elevation. Above 8000ft dense snow, moist but not wet. Snow started to rollerball and pinwheel as soon as you dropped below the 8000ft line. Below 7000ft snowpack isothermic and not supportable to skis.