Quick report
- Red Flags
- Wind Loading, Cracking, Poor Snowpack Structure
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>Moderate Wind Blown today as well as the Wind Blown during the event contributed to reactive Wind Slabs in steep terrain. Cracking was observed in the early morning hours with a small/shallow pocket of Wind Slab easily triggered upon exiting on a steep Northerly facing Test Slope. Hand Shears were easily identifying this potential problem and it was found on a number of slopes and aspects. Poor Snowpack Structure was limited to the reactive weak layer of Grauple that fell initially in the event with the dense snow that followed creating a 1 Finger minus Wind Slab. Upper Elevation Terrain likely had more of an issue on terrain features that had Isolated Pockets of Wind Slab. </p>
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>See above, and this issue may linger on Monday in upper elevation Steep Northerly facing terrain with the Graupel weak layer continuing to be an issue. The warm temperatures and solar should help this problem to decrease significantly over the next 36 hours. </p> <p>Large Cornices were growing over the past weeks event as well as during yesterdays event. Rapid Warming over the next few days may continue to keep this problem a concern, and Natural Releases may be possible. </p> <p> </p> <p>The same Rapid (and excessive) Warming most likely contributed to Wet Loose Activity during the afternoon hours. And the, old/slick/pre-storm snow surface will serve as an excellent bed surface. This Wet Loose Problem may become an issue over the next few days even on the Polar aspects as the daytime highs hit unseasonably warm temperatures. </p>
4 to 5 inches of dense new snow began around 1600 hours on Saturday with the bulk of the storm accumulating by 1900. New snow consisted of graupel at the initial stages and then rimed PP throughout the event. Good/typical Spring dense Powder riding was found on many slopes and this dense new snow kept you off the old snow surface even on steeper descents. Areas of scoured snow surfaces on exposed upper elevation terrain and 4 Finger to 1 Finger hard Wind Slabs on many features. By 1030 the solar began to impact the new snow surfaces on East and SE aspects. Ended tour early today by noon and would have expected all aspects besides steep North to have gotten damp and will be crusted on Monday.