Quick report
Saturday was a perfect example of the challenges of forecasting for wet snow! There had been over 10-15 cms of snow over the past few days, and over 30-45 cms of settled snow from last weekend that remained dry during cooler temperatures this past week. The snow surface took on significant warmth today for the first time in over a week, and we could have easily had more widespread wet activity. But the temperatures remained cool enough and there was enough wind to keep the wet activity to a minimum.
The only thing of interest I noted was on our skin back up to Twin Lakes Pass, the skin track had gone quite a bit to the uphiller's right, passing below steeper terrain that faced east/southeast, and avalanche debris from a fairly small, class 1 avalanche covered the skin track with 45-60 cms of debris. It was unclear if this was a natural or human-triggered avalanche, and it was relatively harmless, but still a good reminder to pay careful attention where you place a skin track to avoid overhead hazards.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>Cool temperatures and enough wind kept the snow surface cool enough today to prevent widespread wet activity. The snow surface did take on some warming today, and the gradual warmup may mean Sunday won't be all that reactive as well. However, there is still dry snow down about 10-15 cms from the snow surface, and Sunday does appear to be warmer than Saturday, so would expect slightly more wet activity. </p>
Dense snowfall from Thursday and Friday warmed up for the first time. All aspects other than steep NW through NE were damp and will be crusted on Sunday am, although am expecting steep mid and upper elevation northerly aspects will remain soft.