Observation: NWAC Forecaster
Basic Information
Observation Details
Observation Date:
March 31, 2022Submitted:
March 31, 2022Observer:
NWAC Forecaster - Andy HarringtonZone or Region:
Snoqualmie PassLocation:
Pineapple Pass and Denny TreesSigns of Unstable Snow
Recent Avalanches?
None ObservedCracking?
None ExperiencedCollapsing?
None ExperiencedMedia/Attachments
Advanced Information
Weather Summary
New/Recent Snowfall:
Increasing storm totals as you ascend in elevation and I found just under 10" in Great Scott Bowl.Dynamic springtime weather today: cooler morning temps, periods of snow showers and sunshine throughout the morning as temperatures bumped up a bit.
No new avalanches were observed. Just before 9:00am, I heard a crack coming from the Chair Peak/Bryant Peak area that sounded like ice or cornice fall, but never saw a resulting avalanche. Didn't hear or see any other avalanches throughout my travels today. At times, I was pushing loose dry snow on the crust but the new snow never reached the threshold for wet avalanches by the time I left the field at noon.
Snowpack Observations
The new snow appears to be fairly well bonded to the 3/30 crust, which is around 4cm thick. About 8cm above the crust, there is a layer of rimed precipitation particles/graupel that showed up in shovel shear tests but wasn't very inspiring as a long-lived weak layer. Below the 3/30 crust the snowpack looks very springlike with large meltforms and other thin melt-freeze crusts. I probed the Early March Crust down around 90cm.
There is still evidence from the recent wet avalanche cycles everywhere, and a lot of the debris is just barely buried. At lower elevations, plenty of hazards are poking through the new storm snow.