Obs-Snow Profile: Steam Mill Peak Area 11/23/2011

Observer Name:

Matt Brodhead

Region:

Logan
Logan River
Franklin Basin
Steam Mill Peak Area

Observation Date:

11/23/2011

Location or Route:

Franklin Basin - Steam Mill Peak Area

Weather

Sky:

Few

Weather Comments:

It was a beautiful, warm day in the mountains. I used the term "inferno" more than once to describe how hot it was. I observed a temperature of 42 degrees at the Franklin Basin trailhead.

Snow Characteristics

Snow Surface Conditions:

Powder

Melt-Freeze Crust

Damp

Snow Characteristic Comments:

Today was a busy day for the snow, and aspect made all of the difference. On south facing slopes I found the snow to be rather damp and saturated, and even noticed some melt-freeze crust forming on some sheltered south-facing slopes. On the other hand, northern, sheltered slopes seemed unaffected. We also found an abundance of surface hoar up to 1cm thick in sheltered terrain.

Red Flags

Rapid Warming

Red Flag Comments:

I observed a few roller balls, but nothing too dramatic.

Elevation:

7900'

Aspect:

South

Slope Angle:

snow_profile_location:

United States

41° 57' 0.3888" N, 111° 36' 7.8048" W

Comments - Photos - Videos (group 1)

Comments on the snow profile: I wanted to get a sample of a south facing slope for kicks, and I found an interesting layer of facets above a melt-freeze crust 4-5 inches above the ground (in the picture, I dug the facets out with my fingers, hence the big horizontal line above the melt-freeze crust). The facet layer was about an inch thick. The facets were pretty stubborn, however, and an extended column test lead to partial propagation @ 20. The other layers seemed fine and manageable. I've included a few pictures of the surface hoar.

Observed Danger Rating:

Low

Forecast Danger Rating:

Moderate

Snow Profile Location

Javascript is required to view this map.