Quick report
A brief afternoon clearing in the pass allowed for a quick outing. Warm temperatures and a mild low-pressure system have been producing steady rainfall in town. In Thompson Pass temperatures at road level are hovering around freezing with precipitation staying all snow. 5cm new snow at road level was wet and heavy with very wet snow underneath. Above 4000 feet snow becomes drier with storm totals around 20cm. Recent snow was unaffected by wind even on high ridgetops. Avalanche hazard in the area was low to moderate with the primary concern being wet or dry loose releases on steep sunny aspects.
Recent avalanche activity was limited to small D1 dry/loose and wet loose activity on steep sunny aspects. No other signs of instability within the top meter of snow were observed.Weather
- Air Temp
- 33 in parking lot, 27.5 at 5000ft
- Cloud Cover
- scattered
- Wind Loading
- none
- Recent Snowfall
- 20cm at 5000ft
- Snow Avail For Transport
- moderate amounts
Warm weather with intermittent snow squalls gave way to partial clearing mid-afternoon. Winds were light to calm. Surface snow was unaffected by wind in all observed areas. Lower elevations had 5 cm of wet storm snow. Above 4000 feet storm snow became drier with a depth of 20 cm.
Snowpack
Near road level, there was 5cm of wet storm snow sitting on top of saturated granular base. At 5000 feet a pit was dug to 1.2 meters with no significant test results. There was a barely noticeable crumbly crust 1-2mm thick below the 20cm of dry storm snow that fell. Otherwise, there were no significant weak layers or layers of concern in the observed areas.