Observation Date
3/6/2013
Observer Name
Ted Scroggin
Region
Uintas
Location Name or Route
Whitney Basin-Humpy Creek
Weather
Sky
Few
Wind Direction
Southwest
Wind Speed
Strong
Weather Comments
A very windy start to the day, with blowing snow across the road driving to the trailhead. Very strong south and southwest winds around mid-morning drifting lots of snow onto north thru east aspects. The winds stayed quite strong through most of the day with good visibility.
Snow Characteristics
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Dense Loose
Wind Crust
Rain-Rime Crust
Snow Characteristics Comments
Strong winds were eroding snow on the south aspects exposing old hard tracks and a thin rime crust that may have developed on Friday of last week. Still some nice settled powder and dense loose snow in protected north terrain, but the winds were starting to get into many areas. The few riders out today were finding decent riding, but conditions were changing as the day went on.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Recent Avalanches
Wind Loading
Cracking
Red Flags Comments
Winds were the big factor today, with lots of snow transport going on. Some natural activity was observed, this was mainly some cornice falls which triggered shallow soft slabs which a few debris piles were enough to possibly bury a person. I was able to intentionally trigger a 4finger+ hard wind slab on a small safe test slope. I was a bit surprised at how wide this wind slab propagated across this slope. Poking around in the crown I noticed a thin rime crust that may have occurred last Friday with the low moist cloud layer? This crust might be allowing the slab to be more connected and give some body to it?
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Trend
Increasing Danger
Problem #1 Comments
Fresh wind slabs were quite sensitive today, some breaking as deep as 16" to 24". These were found on north thru east facing slopes. I did observe a fair amount of natural activity as a result of the strong winds. Large cornices were breaking-off and triggering soft slab avalanches.
Avalanche Problem #2
Problem
New Snow
Trend
Same
Problem #2 Comments
These strong and steady winds might just be enough to tip the balance and activate the buried weak faceted snow from earlier this season. I would think where the snowpack has been thin and weak are places that might become more avalanche prone.
Comments
Lots of strong winds today with snow transport onto north thru east facing slopes. The second and third photos show some natural activity from today.
This 4F+ hard wind slab was intentionally triggered as I stepped onto the slope from the corner. It broke nearly 100' wide, two feet deep, but only ran a short vertical distance due to the low slope angle. Strong winds were creating these sensitive wind slabs along and down off the exposed ridgelines.
