Quick report
- Red Flags
- Wind Loading, Cracking, Poor Snowpack Structure
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>The biggest note is still definitely just how weak the snowpack has gotten over the past 1 to 2 weeks. Bottomless facets with some large grain depth hoar on the ground many places on northerlies, mix of crusts and facets on other aspects. I'm sure anyone who has been out has been seeing this, and anyone who hasn't been out has probably heard about it by this point. Some of the mid pack crusts seem to have decomposed to some extent due to faceting, especially on more northerly aspects. The north aspects seem to just be a pack full of facets with some small variences in resistance and size. Things are going to get interesting if we actually put a load on this with this storm. I also did see some wind loading and some new sensitive shallow windslabs that were cracking easily. I would expect this to increase and grow in depth with additional snow.</p>
Large, striated cupped depth hoar on the ground at 10,400' N
Faceted graupel mid pack
Low tide looking towards the Emma's, Superior, with a blanket of old snow on W Bowl and Cardiac
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>Saw some wind slabs that had formed since the winds cranked up with what little snow is left around available for transport. Sensitive, yet shallow in specific areas. Would suspect that this will become more of an issue with the new snow.</p> <p>If we actually get some snow out of this storm I would expect things to go off with the weak top to bottom snow pack that seems to exist pretty much anywhere there is snow. I would expect them to go full depth once initiated, dependent on the new load. Souths are bare in most places.</p>
Quite a wide variety of snow conditions out there. Everything from wind hammered and unsupportable crusts to some nice settled old powder, to loose skiable facets. Did not observe the SH that has been being talked about. The areas where it existed yesterday seemed to have been destroyed by the wind or possibly even the temps. I would suspect that it remains in a few isolated areas that are protected enough from the wind.