Observation: NWAC Forecaster

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Weather Summary

Generally light snow showers with periods approaching moderate and maybe even what you could call a brief sun break or two. There was essentially zero wind where I traveled today. I was out of the field by noon.

A few very small loose avalanches on steeper slopes, some naturals originating near cliffs. I didn't see any large enough to be called consequential.

Snowpack Observations

I took a quick trip up Kendall prior to forecasting to get a feel for how Thursday night's wind event and Friday's expected snow were shaping up.

I generally found 3-4 inches of new low-density snow that was poorly bonded to a variety of old surfaces. In exposed areas, that surface was typically some sort of wind-effected snow: wind press, wind slab, etc. You could easily feel the changes under your feet while traveling. Under the stiffer Wind Slabs, the snow was again soft, leading to a bit of an upside-down scenario. Using uptrack tests and small test slopes, I was able to get it to crack and fail in blocks. Naturally, the loose snow on top failed as well and slid easily on the stiffer snow below.

I dug two hasty pits and a number of hand pits. I found that some weaker grains still exist in the upper meter of the snowpack - typically graupel. I also found some surface hoar fragments and preserved stellars in one of my pits. The distribution of these layers was spotty and hard to communicate, but they're out there.