Quick report
- Red Flags
- Recent Avalanches, Heavy Snowfall, Wind Loading, Cracking, Poor Snowpack Structure
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>Five out of seven red flags is a fairly good reason to take a step back and the storm has only begun.</p>
Headed up to the Guardsman’s Pass area today to see what the new snow was falling on. I’m pretty sure the abundant surface hoar from earlier this week was destroyed by warm temperatures, wind and damp snow falling on it, I couldn’t find any buried even on protected N facing terrain. Cracking was noted in thin wind slabs and cornices were also cracking and quite sensitive, on the high ridge lines. I would think that the scales will be tipped on our persistent weak layer with forecasted winds and ample snow amounts forecasted. The wind alone was forming denser wind slabs on leeward slopes as the day progresses and as everyone knows the high N,E and W has a fragile, weak snowpack that deserves attention, and patience.
photos: damp snow at 8700ft, cracking and sensitive cornices and riming in the trees.
Hazard depends on wind and snowfall amounts, if we get lots of wind and snow we might be looking at high some point in the next few days
Snowpack
Rain snow line was at 7100ft at 10:30am moving down to 5900ft in the afternoon. The surface snow was damp at 8700ft in the morning causing instant skin glop right off the bat. There was probably around 4 inches of new snow by afternoon which was drier and lighter on top than in the morning. There was also an obvious rimming event, seeing that all the trees were coated with it, pointing their needles directly into the SW wind direction, but I couldn’t feel it in the snowpack.