Quick report
- Cracking
- widespread
We traveled to the Flathead Range to observe the surface snow before the potent weekend storm.
- The near-surface has weak layers (graupel) and an upside-down appearance due to two recent snow events. These should contribute to avalanche activity this weekend.
- No recent avalanches were observed, but the visibility was poor.
- There is an avalanche path where the trail enters the Great Bear Wilderness. Old wet debris had crossed the hiking/skin trail and terminated near Marion Creek. Nearby, old wet debris in two other paths either crossed the trail or butted up against it.
The snow surface cracked on nearly every step. This is due to an upside-down near-surface. Crack length was generally only 1-2 feet, with no shooting cracks observed.
Weather
- Air Temp
- 28
- Cloud Cover
- overcast
- Wind Loading
- light
- Rain Elevation
- 4000
- Recent Snowfall
- 20
- Snow Avail For Transport
- moderate amounts
Rain/sleet mix in the morning and afternoon on Highway 2. Light precipitation throughout the day consisted almost entirely of graupel. We could hear the wind blowing but only felt a few gusts and observed gusty conditions just several times near the ridgeline.
Snowpack
At mid and upper elevations, an upside-down near-surface consisted of 6-8" of recent dense snow resting on top of 2-4" of lower-density snow. This 8-12" was above a pencil-hard 1-2" thick melt-freeze crust formed during Monday's sunshine.