Quick report
We toured up to Ski Acre Hill to get a quick look at snow conditions at the upper bounds of the lower elevations. Temperatures were brisk. It was clear that the area had stayed in the freezer all week long under the inversion. The trees and the snow surface were covered in rime and the snowpack was cold and dry. With an HS of 50 cm at 4100', the snowpack was thin and all manner of obstacles, including open water, were present on our tour.
Weather
- Air Temp
- 21
- Cloud Cover
- overcast
- Snow Avail For Transport
- moderate amounts
It was cold and cloudy under the inversion. As we topped out at 4100', we got into some thinner clouds and the sun tried to burn through, but it was unsucessful. Light to moderate southeast winds. On the drive home at 16:00, immediately after getting west of the Pass, the low cloud deck lifted off and revealed the mid and upper level clouds pushing in with the incoming storm.
Snowpack
HS at 4100' - 50 - 60 cm. HS at 3700' - 40 cm
The upper 10 cm (4") (the snow from 11/24) has turned into a weak and sugary mix of rimed feathers and near surface facets. The amount, size, and quantity of rime was quite impresive. Below about 4000', that surface snow sat on a breakable melt freeze, however, in our pit location at 4100', the crust had almost completely decomposed and melded with the weak snow above. In general, the surface snow was soft, with the exception of some steeper south facing terrain that had a brekable surface crust.
At about 4100' we observed trees that had shed their snow/rime on their southern exposure, suggestion the the inversion clouds descended below that elevation at some point this past week.
The snowpack is very thin at the lower elevations around the Pass, and a safe decent below about 3800' is challenging, if not hazardous. From 4100 -3800', the recycled surface snow skied rather nicely.
50 to 40 cm - 4F weak snow from from 11/24 -
40-39 cm- Decomposing crust and small (.25 mm) facets above and below
39 - 25 cm - 1F Rounds, mixed with the ocassional small angular grain
25 - 22 - Old melt freeze complex - still pencil hard but starting to weaken
22 - Gnd - P/P+ Rounds, also mixed with some small angular grains
Surface temps were -4.5 c and all layers were cold and dry.