Quick report
- Cracking
- isolated
Shallow, faceted powder above the early Feb. crust has now experienced some wind-effects.
Isolated mid-slope wind slabs observed that were susceptible to skier triggering. Propagation limited by terrain features and lack of continuous slab formation.Weather
- Air Temp
- 15
- Cloud Cover
- few
- Wind Loading
- light
- Recent Snowfall
- 5
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
With respect to snow surfaces, Feb.16-17 brought a significant weather event, in the form of persistent moderate SE winds. Cold, clear nights allowed for some surface hoar growth which was largely destroyed by the winds in our location. Exposed ridges were scoured down to the early Feb. crust, while small, isolated windslabs formed in some surprising mid-slope locations. Much of the low-density surface snow available for transport may have fallen prey to sublimation.
Snowpack
The snowpack around the Harts Pass area is anomalously lean. We found an average snowdepth of around 120cm, which seems like about half of normal for the zone. The local snotel shows about 70% SWE for the period, which may be locked-up in the very robust crusts of the shallow snowpack.
The upper snowpack consists of about 15-30cm faceting powder above the early Feb. crust in cold, wind-sheltered terrain. In the steeps, dry loose avalanches are running fast and far on the crust. Steeper solar slopes have developed a melt-freeze crust. Wind-effects, in the form of scouring and inconsistent loading, exist in many locations.