Quick report
I observed wind loading near treeline on northerly slopes. I also found a few very small and shallow wind slabs starting to form. However, I did not find any cracking on small indicator slopes.
Weather
- Air Temp
- 26
- Cloud Cover
- obscured
- Wind Loading
- light
- Recent Snowfall
- 10
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
Today was stormy with limited visibility, moderate winds and occassional strong gusts. It was lightly snowing throughout the day.
Snowpack
Today at Paulina I found a light dusting of new snow near the lake and about 4" of new snow near the summit. Within the new snow surface, I did find some surface hoar from 6,500ft to 7,900ft. This was found on northerly, open and wind protected slopes. While digging a snow pit at 7,700ft, I did find more larger surface hoar that was recently buried a few inches down (see pictures). This layer is too shallow to be an issue currently, but if we receive more snow, this could become reactive. I also found other weak layers (old surface hoar and rounding facets) down 8" and 12" between crust layers. These layers were 4F in hardness and were not reactive during column tests.
The basal facets that we have been finding this season are still present at the base of the snowpack. While performing column tests, I did have a "sudden collapse" on the basal facet layer. However, I did not find any propogation in extended column tests.