Observation: Public

Observation Details

Signs of Unstable Snow

Observations

The snow was cold and dry from Highway 97 at Blewett Pass up to the summit of Diamond Head. Largely, there were no problems where I skied except for one instance of whumpfing on a wind slab found on the south east side of the mountain, just below the summit around an elevation of 5850. Moderate winds were scouring the open areas of the south ridge leading to the summit and depositing the snow on the east side of the peak. On the summit, the wind has been moving snow from the west side of the mountain and depositing it in the trees and on the ground. The trees had anywhere from 10-16" of snow on the limbs in many places. There were moderate winds with gusts when I was on the summit at 1pm which became strong winds as I ate lunch. New snow began to fall around 1:30pm. It was a light snowfall but continued until I drove past Mineral Springs on Highway 97 at 4:30pm. The sky was mostly clear when I started my ski but became overcast. In wind protected areas above 4000', I found surface hoar widespread.