Front Range

S-1, primarily graupel, low wind, warm ambient temperatures barely below freezing

Above treeline, the snowpack remains highly variable. The ground is exposed on the windward and solar aspects. Wind-loaded areas, generally northern and eastern aspects, hold between 60cm and 150cm of snow. In these areas, a very stout pencil-hard wind slab sits on buried persistent weak layers. These slabs appear to be stubborn, with no recent avalanche activity noted and no movement on test slopes today. Near treeline, the snowpack remains very shallow and poorly consolidated. Near treeline, the snowpack is generally 60 to 100 cm in depth and consists of softer slabs overlying weak persistent layers. Stability tests in these areas would also suggest these slabs to be stubborn and not prone to propagation. The most surprising snowpack was found below treeline, where there was 120 to 130 cm of snow in the upper portion of the zone, down to around 60cm of snow closer to Highway 14. In the upper elevation below treeline, the snow is deep and fairly cohesive, somewhat reminiscent of a springtime snowpack. There is evidence of facets moving to rounds, which makes me question whether the snowpack has approached isothermal, given our unseasonally warm temperatures. However, the snowpack is still not truly isothermal, and persistent slab and deep instability are present, although difficult to reveal.