Snowpack

Smith Mountain

Ben BernallWest Cabinet Mountains
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Quick report

No obvious signs of instability observed, however winds picked up in evening which I could hear blowing across ridgelines in East Cabinets. Audible from my house below the northern end of range. Likely caused significant wind loading over night.

Weather

Air Temp
30
Cloud Cover
overcast
Wind Loading
light
Rain Elevation
2,700"
Recent Snowfall
8
Snow Avail For Transport
large amounts

Steady snowfall throughout the day (S2). Very light winds out of the southwest during the day but it was evident that winds picked up significantly in the evening. Snow turned to rain at roughly 2,700' near Three Mile turnoff.

Snowpack

No propagation observed in stability tests. Most significant observations included poor bonding with surface snow and a very thin skin of rain crust that developed on the 23rd. New snow was falling light at the time and had not formed enough of a slab near surface to be concerning. This may have changed overnight with increasing winds. Other significant results were failure on the November 23rd crust and facet layer about 3 feet deep (CT18/Q1/SC). While it did not propagate in Extended Column test it shows potential remains if the right trigger comes along, low likelihood but very high consequence issue.