Quick report
The last 48 hours have delivered exciting weather and avalanches!
Today forecasters visited the site of a very large natural storm slab avalanche that likely ran on the night of April 11th or the morning of April 12th during peak storm intensity. Since April 10th, 17 inches of new snow has fallen at 8,000 feet on Mount Shasta, with greater amounts higher up.
No alarming signs of instability were observed while out in the field. The new snow was supportable, well bonded, and right-side-up with very little surface texture.
We witnessed no signs or symptoms of unstable snow while snowmobiling. Although extreme alpine terrain appeared wind-loaded, with small pockets appearing smooth and pillow-like. Rollerballs and multiple small, wet loose slides were observed on steep slopes beneath ridgelines and rock outcrops.Weather
- Air Temp
- 35
- Cloud Cover
- broken
- Wind Loading
- light
- Recent Snowfall
- 40
- Snow Avail For Transport
- large amounts
Temperatures sat in the mid to low 30s. Winds blew at calm to light speeds from the west-northwest. Broken skies and low clouds quickly turned into whiteout conditions around 12pm and lasted for the duration of the outing.
Avalanche
- Size
- D1 R4
- Type
- WL
- Aspect
- SW
- Trigger
- N
- Elevation
- 8000 ft
Big storms can result in big avalanches! A very large natural storm slab avalanche and multiple small, wet loose slides were observed while in the field today. See attached observations for details.