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Observation: Raymond Glade

Observation Date
1/15/2023
Observer Name
Gagne/Sullivan/Mitchell/Pease
Region
Salt Lake » Mill Creek Canyon » Porter Fork » Raymond Glade
Location Name or Route
Raymond Glade
Weather
Sky
Obscured
Precipitation
Moderate Snowfall
Wind Direction
Northwest
Wind Speed
Moderate
Weather Comments
Periods of heavy snowfall with rates up to S5 (~2"/hr) in the afternoon. Winds were moderate, but were quickly moving snow and instantly creating sensitive soft slabs.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
16"
New Snow Density
Medium
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Snow Characteristics Comments
Somewhat dense snowfall, but lower-density than what we've been seeing with these recent AR (atmospheric river) events.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Recent Avalanches
Heavy Snowfall
Wind Loading
Cracking
Red Flags Comments
There were a couple of natural avalanche cycles today during periods of high precipitation intensity (PI) and some wind-drifting.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
New Snow
Trend
Decreasing Danger
Problem #1 Comments
Widespread cracking in storm snow above 8,000' - literally every step or ski turn in new snow produced cracking. We counted five natural avalanches (there were likely more that we couldn't see due to poor visibility) - these were small, generally D1 or D1.5, but a few ran through aspen trees which would be poor terrain to get caught in even a small avalanche. Despite most slopes cracking and spider-webbing, you needed a steeper slope (approaching 35 degrees) to get the snow to move.
The two largest natural avalanches we saw were (1) Murphy's Headplant (photo below) and (2) Paradise. Paradise ran twice - likely getting re-loaded from winds.
The weak layer was a density inversion down 30-40 cms and this should settle out quickly - it may not even be reactive by Monday.
Comments
Very sensitive storm snow conditions today and ski cuts were effective with dealing with this sort of problem. My biggest concern was getting caught in a small slide and getting carried into a tree so our party always put a ski cut at the top of a steeper portion of the slope and avoided terrain, such as steeper roll-overs and steeper gullies where the snow could accumulate.
Most photos today were poor quality due to challenging lighting, but the photo below is the natural avalanche on Murphy's Headplant: ~150' wide and ran ~200' through aspen trees.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Considerable
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate
Coordinates