Mt Judah

Strong NE winds provided intense wind transport throughout this area today with reactive wind slabs up to 8'' deep on SW-W-NW aspects.  These strong NE winds were also scouring exposed N-NE-E aspects and removing much of this snow, especially on exposed ridges.  Plenty of snow remains for snow transport as winds continue tonight and tomorrow.  We saw several signs of instability with the persistent slab avalanche problem.  We were able to dig down and find the Jan 2 buried surface hoar layer in multiple locations throughout this area.  Snowpack tests at 7400' on a W aspect showed unstable results on this layer.  We also experienced whumpfing sounds where newly formed wind pillows collapsed on this buried surface hoar layer on a WNW aspect at 7500'.   

Multiple wind slab avalanches and cornice collapses observed on the East Face of Mt. Judah. These were partially covered up by additional storm snow and then NE wind scouring. Cracking was consistent on SW-W-NW aspects in wind exposed areas due to NE wind transport and wind slab formation. Most of these wind slabs were up to 4 to 8'' deep, but did not extend very far downslope. We felt 2 whumpfs on a newly formed wind pillows that failed on top of Jan 2 buried surface hoar layer at 7500' on a WNW aspect.