Quick report
- Red Flags
- Wind Loading, Poor Snowpack Structure
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>In places, you can certainly find an abundance of weak snow, but this storm once again didn't overload them. The southern end of the Skyline is definitely more suspect due to a much thinner preexisting snowpack. The higher density snow was not loading slopes as badly as lower density snow may have. On a side note, cornices have grown quite a bit over the last couple of weeks. No cracking or collapsing noted. Warming temperatures weren't drastic enough to produce any activity. East and west aspects became damp today to the ridges. Cold dry dense powder was still in place on steeper north aspects above around 9000'. The snowpack is isothermal below about 8800'.</p>
Overall danger seemed Moderate. Pockets of weak snow with a recent wind load provide the biggest concern. These will relax as the week progresses. The gradual warming trend seems like it will not shock the snowpack too much and produce significant avalanche activity. That said, caution should be used during the next few warmer days.
Thanks to our friends Cade and Brian of SnowBigDeal in Mt Pleasant for their hospitality and local knowledge!
Snowpack
The northern portion of the Skyline region received a bit less snow than the southern half. The snow was medium to high density and contained quite a bit of small grained graupel.