Observation: Brighton Perimeter 1/9/2012

Observer Name: 
Hardesty
Region: 
Salt Lake
Big Cottonwood Canyon
Brighton Perimeter
Observation Date: 
01/09/2012
Weather
Sky: 
Clear
Wind Direction: 
North
Wind Speed: 
Light
Weather Comments: 

 High RH - plenty of SH 

Snow Characteristics

Snow Surface Conditions: 
Powder
Wind Crust
Melt-Freeze Crust
Damp

Red Flags

Cracking
Collapsing
snow_profile_location: 
Comments - Photos - Videos (group 1)

 2' depth along the Park City ridge line northerly.  It's a living museum of weak snow.  1st pic is of the depth hoar on the ground.  Perhaps 3mm in diameter.  

photo 1.JPG
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Comments - Photos - Videos (group 2)

 2nd pic is of what comprises much of the mid-pack - what we call 'diurnally recrystallized snow'.  1-2mm in diameter.  

photo 3.JPG
Comments - Photos - Videos (group 3)

 Surface hoar litters the snow surface.  One and perhaps two other layers of SH (buried 12/13 and 12/21) can be found in localized northerly terrain.  

photo 4.JPG
Comments - Photos - Videos (group 4)

 Some collapsing still noted today on N>E along the Park City/Brighton periphery.  You can see the dirt wind event layer from last Friday that comprises the 4F slab.  The 'whoomphs' collapsed the 1mm thin rime crust onto the faceted snow beneath.  Roughly 8" deep and 40' wide.  No avalanching with the collapses.

Imagine that in more heavily wind loaded terrain (high Broad's/Mill B South/Hogum) the collapses may have triggered an avalanche in the steeper terrain.  

 

photo 5.jpg

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