Steamboat & Flat Tops

Natural storm slab avalanches breaking at the new snow/old snow interface were seen on all eastern aspects steep enough to slide below treeline in the observed area.

Throughout the tour, it was snowing anywhere from S1 to S3. Shortly after arriving back at the trailhead, the snow was noted to turn to a hard rain. The freezing level appeared to be higher than the highest point reached during this tour. Would estimate freezing level to be around 10,000 ft.

The height of the new storm snow is between 35 and 45cm, is high-density and cohesive. On eastern aspects, the new snow fell on a melt-freeze crust and does not appear to be bonding well. On northern aspects, the new snow is sitting on a layer of near-surface facets and is similarly poorly bonded. No buried surface hoar was found on northern aspects today, but given how widespread this layer was before the storm, I would expect that it could be found in more sheltered northern areas. The deeper snowpack on both northern and eastern aspects continues to hold buried rain crusts sandwiched between persistent slabs.