Quick report
- Red Flags
- Wind Loading, Cracking, Poor Snowpack Structure
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>Strong winds were the big red flag today. Just enough loose snow on the surface to blow around and form some sensitive wind slabs up to a foot deep.</p>
The fresh wind slabs today were breaking on some preserved faceted snow that was on the surface prior to the weekend storm.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>Today's winds were creating some fairly sensitive wind slabs, not too connected yet, but should be much bigger and deeper by tomorrow. These wind slabs were breaking out ahead of skis and sleds and are sitting on some preserved faceted snow prior to the weekend snow. </p> <p>I was finding the weak sugary snow that is about in the middle of the snow pack to still propagate a crack across an isolated column with 18-20 taps from the elbow. I would guess tomorrow with wind and new snow this weak snow will become overloaded and avalanches will be likely.</p>
A day of changing snow conditions, with powder snow out of the wind zone, some hard old wind crusts and old sled tracks mixed in.