Quick report
- Cracking
- isolated
We got to the crown of the recent avalanche on Widowmaker, which was one of three similar avalanches that we saw while we were out today. The avalanche failed on a low-density layer of new snow about 2' deep. We're expecting to see more of this kind of activity as the weather picks up this weekend.
We also noticed two new glide cracks- one on the Seattle Creek headwall which is probably 200' wide and was visible from a few miles away, and another smaller one on the north end of Main Bowl, just above treeline. This one was a bit smaller, but still probably 75-100' wide.
Some shooting cracks in shallow wind slabs that were forming while we were out.Weather
- Cloud Cover
- broken
- Wind Loading
- previous
- Recent Snowfall
- 45 cm (18")
- Snow Avail For Transport
- large amounts
Moderate easterly winds with increasing cloud cover through the day. Light snowfall in the afternoon.
Snowpack
The widowmaker avalanche failed on a low-density layer of storm snow. It was stubborn but still reactive (ECTP27) at the crown, now two days following the avalanche.
Avalanche
We looked at the recent avalanche that was noted in yesterday's observation. We also saw two similar avalanches while we were out- one in the small bowl between Main Bowl and Zero Bowl, and one on the southwest face of Pete's South. Both looked very similar to the one we were investigating on Widowmaker, which had failed on an interface between storms over the past week.