Snowpack

Becker/Talking Ridge

Steve ReynaudCentral Sierra Nevada
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Weather

Cloud Cover
few
Wind Loading
previous
Recent Snowfall
0
Snow Avail For Transport
small smounts

Warm and mild today with some increasing clouds throughout the day. S winds were increasing and in the moderate range on upper ridges and peaks.

Snowpack

We toured in the Becker/Talking Peak area today looking specifically for recently buried surface hoar.  We targeted NW-N-NE aspects in near and below treeline areas that were steep enough to still be mostly shaded this time of year.  We looked at many different elevation bands on our ascent and descent.  Below 8000' we found little evidence of any buried surface hoar, but did find a well-established buried layer of graupel.  In most areas, this graupel layer was on top of a thin melt freeze crust.  Above 8000' we did find some areas that had buried surface hoar that was also mixed in with this layer of graupel.  The graupel was fairly consistent at 1-3mm in size and widespread throughout this area.  The buried surface hoar layer was up to 6 to 8mm in size at one location and was very patchy in distribution throughout this area.