Quick report
Today's clear skies and warm weather provided great viewing opportunities around the Alpental Valley, it wasn't so good for the skiing. On my walk to the Source Lake environs, I was able to spot numerous wet loose and glide avalanches from the last few days. A few appeared to have failed within the last 24 hours, but this was much less than the number of older slides. A strong temperature inversion left the valley bottom quite cold (below freezing) for most of the morning, while the mid and upper elevations didn't even get close to freezing overnight.
Safe to say, the snowpack was locked up this morning at low elevations.
The travel conditions in and out have changed dramatically since before the rain. Most stream crossings have opened considerably, with many of the preexisting snow bridges having collapsed.
Many old wet loose and glide avalanches were spotted across the Alpental Valley. The most recent slides likely happened midday yesterday. Surfaces were largely frozen solid in the morning.Weather
- Air Temp
- 32-40
- Cloud Cover
- few
- Wind Loading
- none
- Rain Elevation
- 11,000+
- Recent Snowfall
- 0
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
A strong temperature inversion allowed for below freezing temperatures at the parking lot, and quickly warming with elevation gain. Alpental summit weather station recorded an overnight low of 47F. A cloud layer hung out west of the crest to about 1,500ft, with clear blue skies above. Wind was not noticeable.
Snowpack
A firm 1-3" surface crust now sits across the majority of low elevation terrain. In the early morning, this crust is very supportable on skis, and even quite challenging to punch through by boot. By the mid-morning, sunny areas started to soften slightly, but not by much. The snow between the trees is less crusty, likely from the warmth of the trees.