Quick report
- Red Flags
- Recent Avalanches, Wind Loading, Cracking, Collapsing, Poor Snowpack Structure
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>Lots of red flags checked today with the snow conditions giving good clues to an unstable snowpack. I experienced many collapses and cracking snow as I traveled around today and another round of gusty winds that was blowing the new snow into sensitive drifts. </p>
1. The recent storm snow is sitting on top of the weak sugary snow that developed around the middle of November.
2. Not a lot of natural activity that I observed, but noticed this small pocket on Moffit Peak.
Conditions were fairly sensitive today with slopes that have been getting wind loaded. This low angle test slope did not take much to get the slope to fail as I took a step along the edge. This one finger dense wind slab was sitting on top of the weak November faceted snow.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>The November facets are now buried a couple feet deep and more snow and wind is forecasted to add more stress to this weak snow pack structure. </p> <p>There was some gusty winds from a south direction today and there is no shortage of snow to blow around adding more weight to slopes that have a buried weak layer. </p>
The Thursday nights storm greatly improved the conditions on the north slope with upwards of 12" and things look pretty good for early December.