Quick report
I confirmed the persistent slab instability during my visit to the Blues today. I suspect the strong bed surface offered by the 1/3 rain crust is where the layer of faceted grains buried on 1/31 will most likely fail (as it did during my snowpack tests). Above the 1/31 interface, the recent storm snow is still very uncohesive and does not behave like a slab (yet), I don't suspect this to change much with the incoming cold temperatures, but it will definitely trend in that direction if loaded significantly tonight and tomorrow. While this instability is difficult to trigger, it now has a significant amount of snow above it (2') and could result in a large (D2+) avalanche.
Weather
- Air Temp
- 19
- Cloud Cover
- obscured
- Wind Loading
- light
- Recent Snowfall
- 20cms
- Snow Avail For Transport
- large amounts
Winds consistently light from the SW with minimal wind effect noted in exposed locations. Heavy snowfall commencing around 14:00 with rates up to S3.
Snowpack
I observed 200cms of snow on a sheltered NNE aspect at 5400'. The 1/31 interface was visible down 52cms (20") and the 1/3 rain crust down 62cms (24"). The snow above the 1/3 rain crust and below the 1/31 interface consisted of facets ranging in size from 0.3mm near the top of the layer to 1mm just above the rain crust. Below the 1/3 the snowpack largely consisted of disorganized pencil to knife hard crusts with weak grains between. The facet layer factured just above the rain crust at 22 taps during a compression test, fractured but did not propagate during an ECT (extended column test), and propagated to the end of the column at 30/100cms during a PST (propagation saw test).