Observation: Ephraim Canyon 2/19/2010

Observer Name:

Helgeson

Observation Date:

02/19/2010

Region:

Ephraim Canyon
Skyline

Weather

Sky:

Obscured

Precipitation:

Light Snowfall

Wind Direction:

Southwest

Wind Speed:

Light

Weather Comments:

Obscured visibility all day. Precipitation Intensity increased steadily at upper elevations throughout the day.

Snow Characteristics

Snow Surface Conditions:

Faceted Loose

Snow Characteristic Comments:

The snowpack is VERY shallow in Ephraim Canyon. Way more shallow than the Fairview area. As a result, the entire snowpack is faceted almost everywhere. This canyon probably won't "come in" this season, unless we have a miracle...

Red Flags

Cracking

Collapsing

Red Flag Comments:

Got a nice big whooomph on one of the old blue bell ski area slopes. Yikes! Check out the video. Any significant snowfall (> 12") would easily overload the fragile snowpack structure in place setting off a significant avalanche cycle

Primary Concern

Primary Concern:

Deep Slabs

Probability:

Considerable

Aspect:

North

Northeast

East

Elevation:

High

Mid

Trend:

More Dangerous

Primary Concern Comments:

Technically, the snowpack structure is garbage in many locations. If we do get hammered by this storm this weekend, look out!

snow_profile_location:

Comments - Photos - Videos (group 1)

Video 1: