Observation: NWAC Forecaster

Advanced Information

Weather Summary

It was a mild day with moderate westerly winds that picked up in the afternoon. It felt like spring with blue skies and periodic cloud cover. There were occasional snowflakes falling from the sky, but it would be a stretch to call them snow showers, and no new snow accumulated during the day.

Surfaces were frozen in the morning and softened quickly in the sun.

Snowpack Observations

I headed out to Pinegrass Ridge in hopes of finding just enough snow on northerly aspects for skiing. Unfortunately, we have stepped significantly closer to spring over the last week, and an inconsistent, thin snowpack exists at elevations below 5000ft, even on shady slopes. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the groomed snowmobile trail still had mostly consistent snow cover with only a few bare dirt patches to navigate. This groomed path offered a way to gain elevation to look at the snowpack and surrounding terrain at higher elevations.

Access is becoming more and more challenging, and most slopes up to 5000ft have little to no snow cover. Above 6000ft, the snowpack looks more robust on northerly aspects, while southerly slopes still have minimal snow cover.

The snowpack had gone through multiple melt-freeze cycles, and in the locations I traveled, it has fully transitioned to a consolidated, spring snowpack consisting of primarily rounded melt forms.

Avalanche Problems

Small wet loose avalanches may still be possible off of steep rocks on slopes receiving direct sun.