Quick report
We observed many signs of wet snow problems on slopes 35 degrees or greater near and below tree line. When stepping out of skis, we would sink into wet snow past our kneecaps. Snow melting out of trees entrained more snow as it moved downhill, and natural sluffs could be seen around many steep terrain features.
Weather
- Cloud Cover
- overcast
- Wind Loading
- previous
- Recent Snowfall
- 0
- Snow Avail For Transport
- none
Overcast skies for most of the day, with short periods of very light rainfall. Winds from the southwest picked up in the late morning, and gusts were strong to extreme.
Snowpack
We did not get above 6,300', but observed rain runnels texturing the slopes we traveled on up to that point. The continued run of above-freezing temperatures and rain has saturated the new snow and turned it into a dense and wet mess. All of the snow has melted out of the trees, and large pinwheels and small natural Wet Loose avalanches can be seen on many steep slopes 35 degrees or greater- particularly around rock bands.
In our pit on a northeast aspect near 6,200', we found a 290cm deep snowpack. The most recent 3/11 rain crust was 85cm down, with wet to moist snow above it. Liquid was pooling on and below the crust, and there were several other layers of slush where meltwater had been pooling. Moist snow extended down over 120cm (as far as we dug), and likely goes beyond that.
There were no propagating results, but we did get a sudden planar result in a CT with moderate force. This failed 100cm down from meltwater influencing a softer layer of snow.
Avalanche
- Size
- D1.5
- Type
- WL
- Aspect
- E
- Trigger
- N
- Elevation
- 6200 ft
Small natural Wet Loose avalanches were abundant around steep cliff bands.