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Blog: Thoughts on Snowpack, Jan 19, 2016

Evelyn Lees
1991-2019

With another storm on the way, some thoughts on the current snow pack.

  • In recent days, slopes that have slid one or more times this winter have been the most activeand I expect that will continue.
  • Sunny slopes have buried thin to medium sun crusts, some with facets beneath, and could be come more active.
  • At some of the lower elevations, there are hard, slick surfaces beneath the recent snow - good bed surfaces for sluffs and soft slabs.
  • Many of us are curious that the buried January near surface facets have been so unreactive....so far.
  • Surface snow weakened overnight - and is mixed with some surface hoar. Poor bonding of the new snow could lead to storm snow avalanches.

It all adds up to more dangerous conditions with the next storm, andanother tricky few days for backcountry stability evaluation.

Comments
<p>Really nice discussion of the snowpack Ev! I have really been wondering why the Jan facets have not been reactive. They don&#39;t look super weak, but perhaps its because we just haven&#39;t put the right kind of slab on top (yet.)</p>
Greg
Tue, 1/19/2016