Quick report
- Red Flags
- Heavy Snowfall, Wind Loading, Cracking
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>Widespread cracking in areas with any wind-drifting and the storm snow was also sensitive during periods of high PI.</p>
I found similar conditions to what Jen S also saw in the Catherine's Area: lots of cracking and plenty of small avalanches that were easy to trigger, especially in any areas with wind-loading. These avalanches were all small (Class 1) and only 10-15 cms thick and broke at most a few meters wide. The weak layer was the few cms of snow that fell overnight Tuesday into Wednesday morning, just on top of a thin dust layer.
Although these avalanches were small, it did give me an idea of what to expect with more snowfall and wind forecast overnight and into Friday. With such smooth snow surfaces, avalanches may run far.
Photos of a few small avalanches I was able to easily trigger during periods of higher PI (precipitation intensity) and/or wind-drifting.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>Some shallow wind drifts up to30 cms thick on leeward aspects from the west/northwest winds. </p>
Snowfall was unevenly distributed and ranged from 10-15 cms (4-6") with some wind drifts up to 30 cm thick.