Quick report
- Cracking
- isolated
There appeared to be a small natural avalanche crown on an east facing aspect near 7,800ft on road cut. It was hard to exactly identify as it was mostly filled in with new snow.
Weather
- Air Temp
- 15
- Cloud Cover
- obscured
- Wind Loading
- moderate
- Recent Snowfall
- 25
- Snow Avail For Transport
- large amounts
In the morning I observed consistent strong westerly winds. Winds became moderate in the afternoon. Moderate to heavy blowing snowing in the AM and tapering off by noon.
Snowpack
Today I found about 10-12" of recent storm snow at the summit of Paulina Peak. While digging I found the buried surface hoar we have tracking. This layer is now down 35cm. This layer also propagated on extended column tests on a NW aspect at 7,680ft. I also found the other layer of buried surface hoar down 50cm. This layer was harder to identify in the specific location where I dug. I continued to find the basal facets we have reported all season on northwest to east aspects. This layer is still 4F hardness.
Overall, I experienced strong westerly winds and consistent wind loading on north and easterly aspects. Wind slabs were present throughout the terrain and I found some cracking in the new snow. There are some layers that are not bonding well in the new storm snow (as seen in the shovel tilt test).