Quick report
- Cracking
- specific
Evidence of wind slabs and newly formed persistent slabs (Jan 2 buried SH at old/new interface) was encountered today on our tour. We traveled W-NW-N-NE-E-SE aspects up to a little above 8,600'. We triggered snow minor wind slab cracking in typical wind loaded areas. We encountered buried surface hoar about 1 foot below the snow surface on W and on N aspect terrain near treeline. Snowpit tests indicated that propagation could occur along the buried SH layer.
We saw four natural D1 wind slab avalanches triggered by cornice fall during the storm. Cracking up to 2.5 feet long was mostly within the new snow, occationally going down to the Jan 2 buried SH at the old/new interface.Weather
- Cloud Cover
- broken
- Wind Loading
- light
- Recent Snowfall
- 30
- Snow Avail For Transport
- moderate amounts
Off and on convective snow showers with short lived asnowfall rates up to S2.
Snowpack
New snow amounts of about 30 cm. Buried SH (Jan 2 layer) observed at old/new snow interface on W and NE aspect terrain above 8,400'. Minor cracking observed in wind loaded areas, on a subtle upside down layer within the new snow in wind sheltered areas, and occasionally on buried SH. PST performed at the lat/long of the screenshot (N aspect, 8,600') scored 15/100 end down 30 cm on Jan 2 SH layer. We spot probed a bit in this area at 8,500' and at 8,600'. In both areas HS was 150 to 180 cm. The midpack was very strong. We could only feel 10 to 20 cm max of weaker snow at the bottom of the snowpack, but the hardness was not that weak.
Avalanche
- Size
- D1
- Type
- SS
- Aspect
- E
- Trigger
- NC
- Elevation
- 8600 ft