Quick report
Snow coverage looks good overall at upper elevations and is even impressive in certain aspects. The distribution resembles a comb-over, with south through east aspects heavily loaded by strong December winds, while north through west aspects were scoured and stripped of deeper, more consistent snow. Numerous avalanches observed from town to Three Guardsmen indicate a widespread avalanche cycle associated with the 1/10 or 1/13 storm events. The most prominent crowns were on the south through east aspects, with a few outliers on other aspects.
At the pass, active snow transport was observed, with current south to southwest winds loading leeward aspects. A melt-freeze crust under the 10cm of new snow was present up to three guardsmen from the above freezing temperatures on 1/16.
Weather
- Cloud Cover
- few
- Wind Loading
- moderate
- Recent Snowfall
- 10cm
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
Partly cloudy skies early gradually cleared before clouding up again in the afternoon, producing flat light on the pass. Moderate south to southwest winds persisted throughout the day. A temperature inversion resulted in mild air temperatures just above freezing, while wind exposure kept the snow surface cold.
Avalanche
- Size
- D3.5
- Type
- HS
- Count
- 7
- Aspect
- E
- Trigger
- N
- Elevation
- 4000 ft
A widespread avalanche cycle occurred on the evening of January 13th. There were more slides that I couldn't get a photo of while we were driving. Fewer slides past three-guardsmen however crown lines near Nadahini.