Observation: NWAC Forecaster

Advanced Information

Weather Summary

High clouds and periods of sunshine in the morning slowly gave way to increasing clouds as the storm approached mid-morning. Winds were calm or non-existent for much of the morning. By noon, the sky was darker, we felt a few gusts of wind, and flurries had begun. We were out of the field around 1:00.

Avalanche Observation Comments:

There was plenty of evidence of wet avalanches from yesterday (4/15) around the valley. Plenty of rollerballs, treebombs, and a few small Wet Loose avalanches coming out of steep rocky terrain. We also triggered a few Dry Loose sluffs on steeper slopes that weren't large enough to categorize on the D scale.

Snowpack Observations

The snowpack has become very aspect dependent at the pass. On slopes that saw sunshine in recent days, a surface crust has formed that was breakable and made for some difficult skiing at times. Below the crust, cold dry snow still exists above the 4/8 interface. These are also the aspects where firmer rollerballs and wet avalanche debris now exist. On shadier slopes, there is no crust. Only generally right-side-up cold dry snow over the 4/8 crust. I found roughly 2-2.5 feet over the crust in areas where I dug and probed.