Observation Date
4/6/2013
Observer Name
Ted Scroggin
Region
Uintas
Location Name or Route
Mill Creek
Weather
Sky
Broken
Wind Direction
Southwest
Wind Speed
Light
Weather Comments
A mild start to the day with temps in the low thirties by 9am. Mostly cloudy with brief periods of sun and low clouds with very light snow around 2pm.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
2"
New Snow Density
High
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Melt-Freeze Crust
Damp
Snow Characteristics Comments
A pretty decent freeze overnight allowed for some very supportable riding and turning with dust on crust on the southerly aspects and a thin and breakable crust on the more northerly facing slopes, but still some dense powder like snow in the protected trees areas.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Poor Snowpack Structure
Red Flags Comments
No alarming red flags other than the area having a thin and shallow snowpack all season. We did not observe any recent avalanche activity.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
New Snow
Trend
Same
Problem #1 Comments
The recent large natural avalanche in the upper Whitney Basin clearly shows that the weak faceted snow that developed back in January, can still produce avalanches given the right conditions. Places like the Mill Creek drainage that typically have a thin snowpack would be a place where one of these slides could happen.
Avalanche Problem #2
Problem
Wet Snow
Trend
Decreasing Danger
Problem #2 Comments
Not much in the way of wet activity today with lots of clouds and temperatures never getting too warm.
Comments
A decent refreeze last night allowed for some go anywhere riding conditions today and a couple inches of new snow put a little fresh snow on top of this supportable crust.
