Quick report
- Red Flags
- Recent Avalanches, Heavy Snowfall, Wind Loading, Cracking, Collapsing, Poor Snowpack Structure
Weather obs from today: Obscured skies moving to overcast with steady snowfall rate averaging 2cm/hr. Moderate winds on the 9200' ridgelines from the WNW. Below treeline wind was light from the W. Height of new snow overnight was 8"-14" but it's hard to tell with so much in the last few days.
The touring in Mill D the last two days has included lots of trail breaking and avoidance of slopes that we normally don't think twice about. Looking forward to some clear skies tomorrow before another system rolls in this weekend. Stay patient folks.
Saw some new 'lanches today and filed obs for those.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>Observing avalanches in the new snow. Hand shears failing on isolation on the new/old snow interface. Everything was F hard on the surface and appeared to be F hard for at least the top 3 feet of snow. Saw some riming happening earlier in the week on Monday below 8500' in the late afternoon and curious what 3 feet of snow on top of that will do. Maybe nothing. Maybe something. </p> <p>The current problem with our PWL is that it is becoming harder to observe. Less cracking, less collapsing, less woomphing. Of course, this is when things get extra spooky. Perhaps the best observation today was the lack of observations of the PWL. It's getting buried so deep I can no longer observe it through hand pits will need to start taking out the shovel. But we know it's there.</p>