Quick report
- Red Flags
- Recent Avalanches, Cracking, Collapsing, Poor Snowpack Structure
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>Got a loud collapse and crack while approaching a steeper slope in Main Days.</p>
First time in Days Fork this season and wanted to get an idea of the snow depths and overall snowpack in this zone. HS ranges from 90-150 cms. Dug several quick pits, and all results were ECTN with no propagation. The storm snow from this past weekend is just not behaving like a slab and is F soft. In all my pits since Saturday 1/23, the layer of concern is the interface of the old snow surface with a preserved layer of near-surface facets down 30-45 cms. This layer is on west through southeast. (On a southeast aspect at 9600' was finding a layer of facets atop a melt-freeze crust down 30 cms).
Forecasted strong winds and denser snow over the next few days will stress buried PWLs.
One loud collapse and crack in Main Days where the cracking highlights the propagation and how the collapse failed in the layer of facets at the old snow interface down 40 cms.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>A few collapses and some cracking today.</p>
Most of the snow surface is soft powder, capped off with ~5 cms of low-density stellars. But I did find a few shallow pockets of wind-drifted snow along Main Days ridgeline, as well as at the ridgetop above Days Draw. Some solar aspects did get crusted on Monday.
Storm snow from this weekend has settled to 30-40 cms in Days Fork, with ~10 cm deep settlement cones around trees.