Quick report
We went to Meiss Meadow to find some fresh April pow. There was 5-15cm of new snow throughout the day (2-6 inches). The new snow was moist and sticky while riding. We were just happy it was snowing and not raining. The winds were strong from the south with intermittent snow showers. The temperature was 32 degrees. There were broken skies with pockets of sun and hourly snow squalls creating whiteout conditions. It was a classic Sierra day, we experienced all weather conditions possible and couldn't seem to find the right layer of clothing. When the sun was out, it was blocked by high altitude clouds causing a warming effect; making everything hot and sticky. When we were in a snow squall, it was cold and windy with low visibility.
In the morning, while the sun was out, we observed small wet loose instabilities within the new snow. They were naturally caused by snow falling from trees or off rocks. We counted 15+ in the area. These surface instabilties were causing pinwheels and running pretty far down slope. Similar roller balls were triggered while walking on the skin track. None were entraining the snow beneath it. Snow was blowing on ridges most of the morning. There was additonal new snow and firmness on the leeward side of ridge tops. None produced cracking nor failure on test slopes. The wind blown snow (6 inches) appeared to be too moist to want to move; in this area, at this time (11am). We rode a NE slope at 9,400'. The riding was rewarding and smooth, but slow and sticky.
The storm turned on around noon and created mostly obscured skies and white out conditons. The winds increased and blowing snow was seen on all aspects and elevations in the Meiss zone. This afternoon precipitation continued for 3+ hours until we left the field. The rain line was at 8,000' when we were driving home.
We saw numerous fresh bear prints, one with a cub. Possibly 3+ different bears.
Small natural wet looseWeather
- Air Temp
- 32
- Cloud Cover
- broken
- Wind Loading
- moderate
- Rain Elevation
- 8,000'
- Recent Snowfall
- 3-15cm
- Snow Avail For Transport
- moderate amounts
It rained for most of the night and changed to snow in the early morning. New snow throughtout the day was (5-15 cm). The morning had convective systems producing small amounts of new snow, on and off every hour. In between the white out snow squalls, there were mostly high altitude clouds with passing pockets of sun. The south winds increased from moderate to strong, with extreme gusts. The storm turned on at noon and was nonstop until our exit at 4pm. We saw new snow, gropel, hail, sleet and freezing rain.
Avalanche
Small natural wet loose instabilites. New snow falling from rocks or trees would cause "pinwheels" that grew and got bigger as they continued to roll down hill. The old snow was saturated with rain water and the surface snow was decently cold. This created snow conditions perfect for roller balls. We did not see any wet loose that entrained the below it.