Quick report
- Cracking
- isolated
We had some uncertainty about how the storm would shake out south of Mammoth and at lower elevations, so I went to Lower Rock Creek to investigate. The experience was interesting.
- We triggered small soft slab avalanches and got shooting cracks on a variety of aspects facing the north half of the compass.
- Weirdly, we saw natural rollerballs in areas with minimal slope angle.
- Visibility was poor, like skiing in pea soup. Rain changed to snow, and winds increased as we gained elevation to above 8000 ft.
Weather
- Air Temp
- 40s decreasing to 30s
- Cloud Cover
- obscured
- Wind Loading
- light
- Rain Elevation
- 7000
- Recent Snowfall
- T
- Snow Avail For Transport
- moderate amounts
A witch's brew of above freezing temperatures, high humidity, and poor visibility. The rain/snow like was around 7300 ft falling to 7000 ft in the early afternoon. Rain at the trailhead switched to very light snow with occasional light snow snowers as we approached 8000 ft. Winds also increased with elevation.
Snowpack
There was only a trace of new snow from the storm today. Rain, small amounts of wet snow, and high humidity gave the existing snow from New Year's Day an upside-down character.
A supportable rain crust buried 1/1 was the bed surface for all the avalanches I triggered, and it made travel efficient. I found it down 5-10 cm at 7500 feet, 20 cm at 8000 feet, and buried up to 40 cm on wind-loaded slopes.
Snow below 7800 feet was moist.
Avalanche
- Size
- D1
- Type
- SS
- Aspect
- NE
- Trigger
- AS
- Elevation
- 7700 ft
Moist surface snow over dry. Bed surface: rain crust buried 1/1.