Quick report
- Cracking
- isolated
Cracking was observed only on NW aspect at 5,300' where I found a layer of buried surface hoar down 8". I didn't see any other cracking on E-W aspects.
Weather
- Air Temp
- 16
- Cloud Cover
- obscured
- Wind Loading
- none
- Recent Snowfall
- 4"
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
Obscured skies with intermittent snow showers. Winds were light from the NW. Cold.
Snowpack
Today I traveled in the Blues near the Spout Springs ski resort and found a relatively unstable snowpack. The layers of concern were on a NW aspect and East aspect around 5,300'. In my first pit, I observed Buried Surface Hoar down 8" on an NW aspect. This layer was reactive and fully propagated in my extended column test. On an East aspect, I didn't find the buried surface hoar layer, but I did find a layer of facets sitting above the Christmas Crust down 2'. This layer was also reactive.
My takeaway was there is a degree of spatial variability in the Blues, but we do know there are some dangerous persistent weak layers in the upper 3'. Other WAC forecasters have been finding similar results over the past couple of weeks.
Avalanche
No avalanches were observed.