Quick report
Access on West Mountain continues to be challenging. The lack of snow below 6,500 feet has made winter access extremely limiting. Our storm did not produce as forecasted last night or throughout the day. The mountains north and east of McCall may have been getting snow earlier in the day. Snowfall began on West Mountain around 1500 and was heavy. Strong SW winds were gusting throughout the day, transporting recent storm snow above 6,500 feet. The Christmas Day rain event looked to have elevated rain lines up to ~6,500 feet. We observed a recently saturated snowpack with no active layers of concern.
No avalanche activity observed. Mountains were fairly obscured from mid-day on. No other signs of instability noted. Active wind loading from strong SW winds.Weather
- Cloud Cover
- overcast
- Wind Loading
- moderate
- Rain Elevation
- 6,500
- Recent Snowfall
- 20-25
- Snow Avail For Transport
- moderate amounts
Mild and relatively dry start to the day. Cloud ceiling was around 7,500-8,000 ft. Blue skies were out for several hours this morning in southern Valley County. SW winds were gusting 30-40 MPH above 7,000 ft. Dark clouds with convective graupel showers on West Mountain for most of the day. No new accumulation from 0900-1500. Snowfall turned on around 1500 and was heavy with strong SW winds. Snowfall rates were S2 (1"/hour).
Snowpack
We observed a fairly unremarkable snowpack today on top of No Business. We dug two pits. Both were around 7,200 feet. One was on a NE aspect, the other a NW aspect. Structure and stability tests were similar in both pits. Total HS varied between 90-105 cm (~3 feet). No propagation in ECTs in either pit. The snowpack was nearly completely saturated from recent rains. 20-30 cm (8-12 inches) of recent storm snow, sitting atop a degrading rain crust. A fairly rightside-up slab mid-pack, sitting atop old weak snow from October/November that was moist.