Great observations continue to come into the office.On the surface, cold clear nights are generating some very significant surface hoar development. I'm hearing reports of SH varying in size from 3mm to as much as 40mm with an average around 12mm. Wow! It looks like we get a few dribs and drabs of snow next week which will likely preserve at least some of this surface hoar. It's too early to say where it will be a factor, but the writing is on the wall.Generally speaking, we're looking at a pretty bomber snowpack. Yes, there are some basal weaknesses on the ground but these are being well bridged by the strong mid-pack. Sure, there's a chance that you could activate these weaknesses in an area where the pack is going from thick to thin. (Steep terrain, especially near rock outcroppings.) But, the overall avalanche danger for the area is low. See the forecasters' blog for a heads up discussion on low danger.The alpine snowpack is 150-200 cm, dropping to treeline you'll find depths of 50-150cm.If you're out & about please drop me a line & let me know what you're seeing:
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