Quick report
Extremely warm temps ( relative to it being December) were the main story in hyalite today. With a temperature of 50 f at the trailhead by noon, the snowpack has quickly warmed. All the snow I encountered today was wet or moist to the ground. Owing to this the moderate gusts at and above tree line were not moving an appreciable amount of snow. Minimal amounts seemed available for transport at higher elevations. A break from loading combined with low temperature gradients/liquid water should hopefully act as a bit of a bandaid for the snowpack, which is nice consolidation prize considering the skiing was pretty awful!
Weather
- Air Temp
- 45
- Cloud Cover
- broken
- Wind Loading
- none
- Recent Snowfall
- 0
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
Light winds with moderate gusts at and above treeline, out of the west. Very warm temps, well above freezing at 8500’. Cloud cover and winds increasing throughout the day.
Snowpack
HS topped out at around 70cm near the top of the ridge. Snowpack was moist down to the ground at all elevations and aspects I observed, though storm layers were still visibly distinct in hand pits. Small graupel layer just below the surface from the last storm.