Observation: Days Fork

The JDL is buried beneath a thick, hard slab with multiple crusts in the upper snowpack. I did not observe any fresh avalanches failing on this layer during my travels today. In my snowpit on a north-facing slope at 9350', the JDL showed signs of strengthening, becoming harder (4F+) below the 4 ft thick pencil hard slab, and was unreactive in ECT. There may still be areas where the snowpack is thinner at mid and upper-elevations, where a human could trigger an avalanche on this layer. The warm temperatures and rain have created crusts in the upper snowpack that make impacting the weak layer less likely, and may also help the snowpack shoulder the storm later this week. There is enough spatial variability in the forecast zone that we will continue to hunt for likely areas where the problem may still exist. For now, I continue to avoid steep, rocky, north-facing terrain where the snowpack is thinner.

Felt like spring today. Strong solar input quickly warmed the fresh snow and created small, easy-to-provoke wet loose avalanches on steep south-facing slopes.