Traveled today up Neffs with the initial idea of skiing good low-elevation snow we have still been finding, but instead focused on how the weak snow I have been finding this week at lower to mid elevations would be affected by the warm/rainy conditions. Traveled as high as 7000' until I became overwhelmed by common sense and retreated.

Was finding the top 5-10 cms of snow (2-4") to be saturated by the drizzle, and in some areas damp snow was being found even down to 30 cms. For the most part, where I was traveling the rain destroyed the weak faceted snow at the surface, but I was still finding some SH up to 25 mm wide with a light glazing of ice. Made some of the most interesting snow crystals I have ever seen - as you moved your hand across the plane of the snow surface the crusted surface hoar crystals were making a very loud noise as they fell over. In other areas where I was finding SH earlier this week, the rain virtually destroyed the layer. Dug a few quick pits at about 7000' and was finding the storm snow from Jan 10-12 to have settled to 30 cms. I was still identifying the rime crust (how many rain/rime crusts will we have this season?) from Jan 8 now buried about 35 cms down. However, the faceted snow sitting above and below the crust has strengthened considerably over the past 10-14 days and it now 4F hardness. Virtually impossible to examine the crystals under a scope as your sample would melt because of warmth and/or rain, but from the feel of this layer it certainly seems to have strengthened. Interesting to note because this layer was quite weak due to the thinner snowpacks in this area and it was responsible for the avalanche activity on Jan 11-12 in Millcreek Canyon.

STM/STH with Q2 shears both above and below the 2 mm rime crust down 35 cms. CT scores were 20+ taps failing at this same layer.

There wasn't enough rain this morning to produce wet sluffs, but quick hand pits were showing dry, loose snow underneath the wet snow at the surface. For Friday, anyone willing to travel through low to mid elevation terrain may want to watch for wet natural activity if rain persists.

For snow geeks, poor conditions can create opportunities for very interesting snow observations.