Observation Date
12/3/2022
Observer Name
Ted Scroggin
Region
Uintas » Whitney Basin
Location Name or Route
Whitney Basin
Weather
Sky
Broken
Wind Direction
South
Wind Speed
Moderate
Weather Comments
A mostly cloudy day with some brief periods of broken skies and gusty south winds. Temperatures did warm up after a very cold morning.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
12"
New Snow Density
Medium
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Wind Crust
Snow Characteristics Comments
The Thursday nights storm greatly improved the conditions on the north slope with upwards of 12" and things look pretty good for early December.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Recent Avalanches
Wind Loading
Cracking
Collapsing
Poor Snowpack Structure
Red Flags Comments
Lots of red flags checked today with the snow conditions giving good clues to an unstable snowpack. I experienced many collapses and cracking snow as I traveled around today and another round of gusty winds that was blowing the new snow into sensitive drifts.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Trend
Same
Problem #1 Comments
The November facets are now buried a couple feet deep and more snow and wind is forecasted to add more stress to this weak snow pack structure.
Avalanche Problem #2
Problem
Wind Drifted Snow
Trend
Increasing Danger
Problem #2 Comments
There was some gusty winds from a south direction today and there is no shortage of snow to blow around adding more weight to slopes that have a buried weak layer.
Comments
1. The recent storm snow is sitting on top of the weak sugary snow that developed around the middle of November.
2. Not a lot of natural activity that I observed, but noticed this small pocket on Moffit Peak.
Conditions were fairly sensitive today with slopes that have been getting wind loaded. This low angle test slope did not take much to get the slope to fail as I took a step along the edge. This one finger dense wind slab was sitting on top of the weak November faceted snow.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Considerable
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Considerable
Coordinates
