Observation: NWAC Forecaster

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Weather Summary

General clearing trend with an isolated snow shower first thing in the morning. Noticeably warmer near valley bottom than at ridgetop.

A handful of small, solar induced loose slides occurred on steep slopes within a couple hours of direct sun today.

A large debris pile was evident beneath one of the main gullies on the NE side of Cashmere, but obscured by new snow. Likely older than a few days.

Snowpack Observations

I found increasing amounts of new snow as I gained elevation. Pow town sat above 5,000ft, below that was usually more dust on crust-y. Aspect mattered, with a strong sun crust less than a foot below the recent snow on solar aspects, but not felt on northerlies until below ~3,000ft.

I was able to get shallow, but fairly long cracking on wind affected SE facing slopes. The sun appeared to be playing a role in creating a more cohesive slab within some already slightly more cohesive wind drifted areas.

A profile on a NE aspect at 6,000ft found a fairly shallow snowpack, as it appeared to have been getting stripped with the arctic front last week. (see profile photo)

HS 133cm
CTM 12 SC down 33cm beneath a 5mm MFcr (2/13) on 1mm FC (4F).
CTM 18 SC down 47cm beneath a 5mm MFcr (MLK?) on 1mm FC (1F).
ECTN M down 33cm beneath the 2/13 crust. This did propagate about halfway, though.