Observation: NWAC Forecaster

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Weather Summary

Overcast skies in the morning with cold temperatures and calm winds. By noon, moderate snowfall had begun, and about 3 inches of snow had fallen by 1pm.

Snowpack Observations

Consistent with other locations in East Central, a weak snowpack structure exists in the Teanaway. While I did not experience any collapsing or cracking as I traveled, I did find weak-faceted snow in the lower snowpack. At 4700 ft, I found about 3ft of snow. The top 2ft of the snowpack consists of recent storm snow, low density at the surface, and increasing to 1 F hardness above the 11/25 crust. Weak faceted snow exists between the 11/25 and 11/22 crust, and the base of the snowpack is 5 inches of F hard faceted snow. A compression test on this layer resulted in a moderate score with a sudden collapse (CTM17 SC) in the layer of facets at the base of the snowpack.

Steeper terrain on southerly aspects at higher elevations in exposed areas looked thin, and rocky, with wind-swept ridgelines. East-facing terrain looked to have slightly better coverage.

There is approximately 2 feet of snow at the trailhead located at 2700ft, roads were not groomed but easily traveled by snowmobile. Because of the deep unconsolidated snow with buried hazards, I kept my snowmobile travel on the North Fork Teanaway Road and continued past the road on skis.