Buried Surface Hoar

Approx 60cm (at 1200m) of recent storm snow this week fell on well developed surface hoar! A test pit dug at tree line in a sheltered area just below ridge top showed buried surface hoar 5-7mm standing proud. Despite not seeing many natural slab avalanches in the area yet on this layer, compression test results were easy (CTE 2(sp)) down 60cm on the buried surface hoar layer. And an extended column test also failed on the buried surface hoar layer however did not propagate across the entire column (ECTN 15). The storm slab above was quite soft (4F) and likely still gaining cohesion as snow settles and temps stay mild. Heads up out there!