Went out looking to see what was happening with the near surface facets from the previous weeks cold clear nights on all aspects with the upcoming storm to see how things will bond. The warm days & warm cloud covered nights this week have helped to destroy the faceting that had been taking place in the top of the snowpack, and the top 1' to 2' has started consolidating on W-N-E aspects where I was looking between 10,000' & 10,800'. Several shovel tilt tests on all aspects did show some weakness in the bond between the old snow/new snow interface from Tuesday but no noticeable facets remained. The consolidating happening in the top 1' to 2' feet of the snowpack paired with the few inches of snowfall we received on Tuesday made the skiing & riding supportable, fast, & surprisingly enjoyable.

I also dug on a S aspect at 10400' and had ECTX with an HS of 90cm. The facets at the bottom of the snowpack continue to appear to be gaining strength. With the upcoming storm trending in the direction of a lower SWE event, I would not expect to see this layer come back to life. If the storm over produces and 1"+ of water shows up, I'll continue to tread lightly with PWL at the bottom of the snowpack in the event of a low probability/high consequence event.

With what I saw today, I would expect the new storm to bond well with the current snow surfaces traveled on today.