Quick report
We took a very short tour to look at several weak layers in a location we've seen them repeatedly over the past few weeks. This lets us see how they're changing over time. Over all, they still look very similar. The JDL was showing signs of rounding, but the 1/10 looked weaker.
The most in your face observation of the day was the heavy moist surface snow. This made travel (up and down) challenging.
There were a few small wet loose slides near the top of Kendall Peak and near the Waterfall Cliffs, but mostly it was just roller balls. No real cracking in the recent sno.Weather
- Air Temp
- 32
- Cloud Cover
- overcast
- Wind Loading
- none
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
It was a very humid and muggy day in the mountains. Winds were almost dead calm and it made the air feel sticky (more like back home in Alabama). Occassionally I could see the sun trying to poke through the clouds, but overall it was overcast. There was about 8" (20cm) of recent storm snow (2/19-20).
Snowpack
We frequently use a location repeatedly through a cycle to track changes over time. Generally, I'd say not much has changed other than the addition of a few more layers to watch. This particular location is W, 4900ft.
-New Snow: There was about 8 inches of storm snow from 2/19 and 20. It frequently failed at the old interface in tilt test and compression tests, however extended column test did not propagate. We also found a thin inter storm crust often referenced in other observations.
-2/13: This interface was subtle and hard to spot with the eye. However, tilt tests and compression tests quickly highlighted it about 18" (45-60cm) below the surface. Similarly, it failed in an extended column tests, tried to propagate but stopped short of the whole block. Because the layer was so subtle, a propagation saw test (PST)was too challenging to feel comfortable about any results. Looking at the grains, they appeared mainly to be rimed stellar and rimed fragments.
JDL: The 1mm facets of the JDL were showing signs of rounding.
1/10 Facet/Crust complex: The crust are getting weaker and over all the layer is "junkier". A PST failed 35/100 end, very similar to results we've seen since the start of this problem.
Wind Slabs: No real wind effect was noted. Snow was visible in the trees all the way to the summit of Kendall.
Wet Snow: Other than a few small rollerballs the wet snow hazard was minimal. I wasn't even able to push loose slides on very steep test slopes.
Avalanche
Only a few very small wet loose slides from 2/19.