Weather
- Air Temp
- 39
- Cloud Cover
- few
- Wind Loading
- none
- Snow Avail For Transport
- none
Mostly sunny skies with a light west wind. The tree cover kept the temperature feeling mild, in open areas, the sun's effect was much stronger.
Snowpack
This is a brief update on elevational conditions, following an avalanche rescue course with Coconino County SAR.
It has been 10 days since our last storm, and much of the approximately 12" of snow deposited from that storm has blown away or melted. At 9,500' on west facing slopes, forested areas are once again down to dirt and patches of snow. Between 9,500' and 10,000', the height of snow increases rapidly. At 10,000' there is between 40 cms and 60 cms of snow, with some areas of drifted snow measuring up to 90 cms. There are numerous exposed rocks and logs, but skinning above this elevation is still possible. Between 10 and 15 cms of light snow from the last storm remains on the surface. At this elevation, the ice layer is softening and is down to knife minus in hardness in forested locations. Below this layer, the snow is faceted, and wet facets were found at the bottom of the snowpack.
The Humphreys trail between 9,500' and 10,000' is snowpacked with 95% coverage. Some melting was observed on the trail in the afternoon during egrees at 9,800' on south-facing corners. The trail is too rocky to descend on skis, but skinning uphill was possible.
Current snow totals are as follows: AZ Snowbowl Stake (10,800') 33", Snowslide Stake (11,200') 35", Snowslide Snotel (9,700') 24".
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