Aspen

Obscured all day with little to no visibility. New snow measured around a foot deep by the afternoon, and swirling winds were drifting snow even at lower elevations. Thankfully, it stayed cold and wintery.

Snowpack conditions are downright weird, and seemingly change on a day-to-day basis more than most seasons. Observations from today were all near or below 11,000 feet in elevation. This typically shallow area is even shallower given the paucity of snow this season. The new snow is around a foot (30cm) deep and cold and dry. It fell onto a moist crust and is likely forming dry-over-wet snow facets as I write this. The new-old snow interface will be one to watch over the coming days. The recent February facets layers (Feb 11 and 17) have seen meltwater and refreezes and are not the main concern at these low elevations. The bottom half of the snowpack is comprised of moist-large grained facets and depth hoar. Large columns test produced repeated failures breaking near the ground (ECTP 6 and 7). With new snow blanketing the previously moist snowpack, this will delay refreezing the lower snowpack for a couple days at least, and the basal facets will remain a concern.