I was curious how the snowpack (and our preserved surface hoar layer) looked after the recent rain/wind/graupel. Pits showed spatial variability as we might expect with such unusual weather conditions. Although I was able to identify the surface hoar in most pits, for the most part I was not getting easy shears at the interface and an ECT would not propagate across the 35 cm, 1F slab above it.  For now, I still don't think we have enough of a slab above the surface hoar layer and the layer seemed to be breaking down somewhat as many of my pits did not always get clean shears. Also, some pits showed a very stout slab that is bridging the buried weak layer. I was away when the surface hoar looked at its worst, so have actually been expecting a more reactive weak layer.  However, when skiing out, I talked to a party that got a 200' wide avalanche in Catherine's Area that failed at the surface hoar layer. Am hoping the leader of this group reports the details of the slide. That said, unusual conditions (buried SH & NSF, stout rain crusts, water weight) warrant cautious travel. Am thinking any new snow will make for very fun skiing on lower-angled terrain on Wednesday.

Photos of (1) water channeling at lower elevations, (2) out Wasatch looking more coastal range (3) slide on S face of Superior (4)  5 cm rain crust (5) pit (6) buried surface hoar layer.