Observation: 10420 1/19/2012

Observer Name:

Bruce Tremper

Region:

Salt Lake
Big Cottonwood Canyon
10420

Observation Date:

01/19/2012

Weather

Sky:

Broken

Precipitation:

Light Snowfall

Wind Direction:

West

Wind Speed:

Strong

Weather Comments:

Not much snow during the day. The sun even broke through at times. The precip line was just north of SLC for most of the day so it barely missed the SLC mountains while it's still pounding in Logan.

Quite windy along the ridges with lots of snow transport.

Snow Characteristics

New Snow Depth:

New Snow Density:

High

Snow Surface Conditions:

Dense Loose

Snow Characteristic Comments:

The new snow is quite dense and sitting on graupel, so the trailbreaking is a bit arduous. Since it's slabby, the turning conditions are also a bit challenging, but if you can stay out of the wind, it's not too bad in dense, creamy, warm snow.

Red Flags

Recent Avalanches

Heavy Snowfall

Wind Loading

Cracking

Collapsing

Rapid Warming

Red Flag Comments:

Well, I don't often get to check all the red flags at once. Let me see, I bet it's dangerous out there. Yup.

Primary Concern

Primary Concern:

Persistent Slabs

Probability:

High

Aspect:

North

Northeast

East

Northwest

Elevation:

High

Mid

Trend:

More Dangerous

Primary Concern Comments:

The new snow is only 6 inches deep but it's dense, so especially in wind drifted areas, it's enough weight to overload the faceted snow. Test slopes were very sensitive but the other big, steep slopes (that I was afraid to even get near) are still hanging in the balance. Perhaps more snow tonight or over the next couple days will push everything over the edge and we will have a widespread natural avalanche cycle.

Secondary Concern

Secondary Concern:

Wind Slabs

Probability:

Considerable

Aspect:

Northeast

East

Southeast

Elevation:

High

Mid

Trend:

More Dangerous

Secondary Concern Comments:

The winds continue to howl and are transporting a lot of snow, mostly onto easterly facing slopes. The main problem is when they sit on the weak, faceted snow but they may be a problem on the crusts as well.

snow_profile_location:

Comments - Photos - Videos (group 1)

I took video of the conditions including triggering avalanches on a couple test slopes, a couple naturals within the new snow and all the wind loading. Enjoy.

Video 1: