Quick report
- Red Flags
- Heavy Snowfall
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>The snow quickly became more reactive during any period of heavy snowfall, but it would almost just as quickly settle out. </p>
Very easy to initiate sluffing in the top 15 cms of snow on any slope steeper than 35°.Ski cuts were very effective with this problem, and a ski cut on top of a steeper pitch would easily get a sluff to move below you. The sluffs weren't moving that fast, but there were debris piles up to 1 meter on the uphill sides of trees. The storm snow wasn't a cohesive slab, so these sluffs weren't propagating more than a meter or two. The weak layer seemed to be a density inversion down 10-15 cms and this should settle out within a day or so.
With unsettled weather forecast for much of this week, avalanche danger will increase during any period of heavier precipitation but likewise should settle out fairly quickly. We are in a typical spring pattern this week and you just need to be aware of quickly changing conditions. The things I'll be looking for this week:
1. Quick spike in avalanche danger during any period of heavier snowfall.
2. Possible wind drifting from north/northwest winds. With plenty of loose snow available for transport, wind drifts will quickly develop with any increase in wind.
3. Strong, direct sunshine that will quickly change the stability of the snow where it may instantly become reactive with loose, wet avalanches.
Photos of sluffing and debris piles on the uphill sides of trees.
Snowpack
40 cms (16") at the mid and upper elevations of Day Fork. Some greenhousing affecting the snow below about 8,000'. Some wind-drifting at upper elevations from the northwest winds.