Observation: NWAC Forecaster

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Weather Summary

The day had clear skies and mild temperatures. Sheltered locations in the sun felt warm and spring-like, but a strong chilly wind kept surfaces frozen at least until I returned to the trailhead at around 11:30 am.

Snowpack Observations

Although I did not expect to find enough snow for much avalanche potential, I got out into the Blewett Pass area to see how the area faired from the recent storm. I walked on bare dirt with patches of snow until approximately 4500ft. Above 4500ft, I found continuous snow with widely variable depths from 20cm to 80cm. I suspect this to be a combination of snow melting out previous to the recent storm and the strong winds associated with the storm blowing the new snow into deep drifts. On average, in sheltered locations, I found 50cm of snow on northerly and easterly aspects.

The storm snow from April 4-5th has settled to approximately 20cm of small rounded grains with a 2cm thick melt-freeze crust on the surface. Below 4500ft, the recent snow fell on bare ground. At elevations above 4500ft, the lower pack consists of large, moist, rounded polycrystals of varying depths beneath the recent snow.

The only wet loose avalanche observations were some small rollerballs were on the east aspect of Diamond Head. Even with the strong winds, I did not observe any blowing snow at upper elevations. The surface melt-freeze crust was supportable to skis going uphill, but not boots. On the way up, I could punch through with my boots up to thigh deep and all the way to the ground. Skiing down, I found the crust to have "trap door" tendencies, where you only punched through at the end of your turn. I had attempted to get onto the slopes of Diamond Head, but the challenging travel and multitude of downed trees kept me on the forest roads.