Quick report
• Observed a handful of old Destructive Size 1 (D1), wet loose avalanches that ran last week during the warm weather. These were isolated to steep slopes on sunny aspects primarily between 6000-7000’ elevation. • Very little snow below 6000’ elevation. “Storm” totals from 12/23 were 2-3” on the Canyon floor and 5-8” above 6000’. • Above 6500’ the snowpack generally consists of 5-8” of recent powder snow on top of the 12/22 crust (~1” thick), then another 5-10” of soft (4F) snow down to the 12/7 crust (2-4” thick), with melt-freeze crystals below that to the ground. Total snow depths ranged from 2-4’. • Below 6000’ the snowpack, where it exists, consists of 2-3” of powder snow on top of a sometimes boot-supportable melt-freeze crust to the ground. • Surface hoar was prevalent on the Canyon floor and up to about 5000’ where it gradually disappeared. • On sunny aspects, the snowpack surface was slightly stiffened by the recent solar heating/nighttime cooling, but no real crust was found. • No signs of instability observed. We cut a mini fridge-sized cornice chunk onto a steep northerly slope at about 7300’ with no results. • Recent wind-loading has been minimal at all elevations.
Weather
- Cloud Cover
- overcast
- Wind Loading
- light
- Snow Avail For Transport
- moderate amounts
• Mostly cloudy with the bottom of the cloud ceiling hovering around 7000’ elevation. Occasional very brief snow flurries with no appreciable accumulation over the day. • Light SW winds with moderate gusts on the ridgetops. • Inverted air temperatures this morning with single digit values °F on the Canyon floor and low-20s°F above 6000’. Afternoon high temperatures reached the high-20s°F at all elevations.