Quick report
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>Snow transport and wind loading witnessed today was minimal, soft, and isolated. However I am starting to think about how combinations of surface hoar, surface faceting, radiation recrystallization, snow transport, and crust formation (all seen today) will start to play out when we get our next snow. </p>
Conditions were as expected today. We pushed into some steeper and more challenging terrain with no observed signs of instability. Polar aspects stayed cold and solar aspects had brief periods of warming in the sun, followed shortly by cooling again (East seemed to be refreezing around noon) that made for extremely variable surface conditions on these aspects. Fresh groom on the road and supportable surface conditions off made for easy travel.
1: Wind Transport onto ENE aspect
2: Variable entrance conditions
3: Early solar aspects
4: Surface variability of zone
Snowpack
We found the full spectrum of snow surface conditions with the best being in high, northerly, protected terrain. E and SE were most variable and dynamic throughout the day.