Weather

Mill City - Extreme Southwest Winds, Intense Blowing Snow

Samantha RubinEastside Region
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Quick report

Cracking
specific
Collapsing
specific
  • I did not venture into avalanche terrain today. I did find reactive wind slabs and reactive storm slabs on small test slopes.
    • Wind slabs were observed up to 1F, 25 cm deep. Breaking on precipitation particles from before the winds picked up this afternoon. 
    • Storm slabs were observed up to F+, 40 cm - barely stiff enough to call it a slab. Breaking on slight density changes in the new snow. 
  • Visibility was minimal due to consistent, intense blowing snow near and above treeline. 
  • I found areas of leeward terrain with height of snow > 360 cm. 
  • Height of snow ranged from 140 cm - 210 cm in somewhat sheltered northeast terrain, BTL, 8700'
  • Height of new snow ranged from 60 cm (sheltered terrain) - 140 cm (leeward terrain). 
Propagating cracks in leeward terrain that was actively loading. Cracking underfoot in sheltered terrain, and collapsing underfoot happening in the upper snowpack on slight density changes within the new snow.

Weather

Air Temp
30
Cloud Cover
obscured
Wind Loading
intense
Recent Snowfall
60 - 140 cm
Snow Avail For Transport
large amounts

Consistent extreme winds and intense blowing snow. Limited visibility. Hard to tell if it was actively snowing or just blowing. Temps were below freezing.