Quick report
Surface crusts were breaking down by 1 PM. The snowpack below was moist and gloppy.
No obvious signs of instability.Weather
- Air Temp
- 40 F
- Cloud Cover
- broken
- Wind Loading
- none
- Snow Avail For Transport
- none
It was mostly cloudy to start, with longer stretches of sunshine in the early afternoon. Moderately sized convective clouds produced a good-sized squall that tracked over Baker Pk and into the southern Boulders. The wind blew moderate from the S and SE.
Snowpack
Avalanche paths along Warm Springs Rd have enough snow to cause problems during this storm. Snow depths ranged from 60-130 cm on NW-N-NE facing slopes between ~7,000 and 8,000'. All of the slopes I traveled on were capped by a variable MFcr up to 10 cm thick. Some slopes with thinner snowpacks or trees were unsupportable. I doubt the surface crust held on much longer after I got off the snow at ~1 PM. While not wet, the remaining snowpack was a mushy mass of rounding facets. It was easy to push a ski pole through, in some cases basket first. Some slopes had some subtle but weak midpack crusts, but this seemed to be relatively uncommon. One deeper NE felt somewhat dry near the base but in general, most slopes have seen a good dose of meltwater.
With rain, I don't expect this snowpack to react as suddenly and poorly as a snowpack that's remained mostly dry. That said, with enough of a sudden impulse, it likely won't take much to cause full-depth gouging, wet loose, and potentially wet slabs here.
Avalanche
No recent avalanches. Breaking chunks of cornice produced very small wet loose on steep SE that rode up onto the crust again as the angle lessened.