Jeru Peak

Yesterday's rain (rain even at the high elevations) added a lot of moisture to the upper snowpack. At the lower elevations, this has made the top 30cm even more punchy, and softened the 3/28 crust. At the upper elevations, where the saturated the previous surface layer before turning to snow, it has created a weak, wet layer overlain by a now refrozen crust. The wetting front to which the rain saturated also created a more reactive interface a little lower in the snowpack. The cooler temps today kept the upper snowpack locked up at the higher elevations, but especially with multiple possible weak interfaces that could become more reactive with warming temps and additional precip,  loose wet slides such as the one we observed on Jeru peak may become more likely. 

Last night's rain saturated the top 30cm of the snowpack at elevations observed from 4000' up to 6400.' The 3/28 crust was supportive to boot penetration throughout these elevations but has softened some since last week. The lower elevations were soft and punchy; boot penetration down to the 3/28 crust, and ski penetration 2-3" with a subtle refrozen crust that softened throughout the day. Starting at 5500', there was an inch of new snow with noticeably more solid upper snowpack. Around 6000', wetting depth had not quite reached the 3/28 crust. At our snowpit (6100', east/SE aspect, 245cm deep), there were 5cm of hard, refrozen windslab sitting over 5cm of wet, soft grains that had not refrozen. Compression tests had reactivity there (CT 11@~6cm down, SC) and also at the wetting front of the recent rain saturation (CT21@30cm down, SC). Shovel shear also indicated possibility of failure below the 3/28 in the weaker unconsolidated layers.