Quick report
- Red Flags
- Wind Loading, Poor Snowpack Structure
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>Possibility of small pockets of sensitive wind slab at higher elevations, especially below the ridge line, although the amount of new snow from Sunday is minimal.</p> <p>The rain crust seems to have locked everything up at mid- and lower elevations.</p> <p>No signs of recent avalanches; no cracking or collapsing.</p>
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>Deep slab instability at higher elevations on steeper slopes still remains a big and scary question mark. </p> <p>Warmer temps forecast for Tuesday could soften sunnier slopes enough to produce wet surface slides which could step down into poorly structured lower layers of snow.</p>
Aside from a wind-scattered thin skim of graupel/dense snow from Sunday's cold front passage, the snow surface at mid- and lower elevations was a smooth 6-8" thick frozen rain crust stout enough to drive a tank over. Damp, granular crystals immediately below the crust as far as a shovel would reach.