Quick report
We found wind blown snow farther down slope from ridgelines than typical for this area, with big wind rolls extending well into the trees overlooking the Carson Valley. Windward slopes were very thin and even scoured back to the dirt. However, numerous test slopes and informal obs like mitt pits and trench checks did not indicate that previous wind instabilities lingered today. Just about every tree had settlement cracks around it. In two deep trenches on N/NE aspects below ridgetop, I dug down to the new/old interface and found it 5 1/2 to 6ft down. If there had been graupel or surface hoar, it appeared to have been destroyed by the warm onset of the storm. Yesterday's tracks were covered by about 15cm of additional snow.
Two small natural wind slabs observed - maybe D1.5 in size. Numerous test slopes, mitt pits, and shovel tilts were unremarkableWeather
- Cloud Cover
- scattered
- Wind Loading
- moderate
- Recent Snowfall
- 15cm
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
Cool and windy, but most snow on windward aspects had already been redistributed
Snowpack
Lots of recent wind transport observed, but current wind transport was limited due to most windward snow already being redistributed. Graupel at the new/old interface, if it existed in this area prior to the storm, appeared to have been destroyed by the warm onset of the storm.