Observation: Wolverine

Observation Date
4/23/2013
Region
Salt Lake
Location Name or Route
Wolverine: Bowl, Chutes, and Cirque
Weather
Sky
Clear
Wind Direction
West
Weather Comments
Another night of frigid temperatures, and it took most of the morning for the temperatures to move up into the mid 20's. Overall, it appeared to be relatively cool/cold throughout most of the day. Clear skies prevailed until 1400 when there were scattered convective clouds building. West and WNW winds were in the Light Category and basically Calm much of the time until 1400 when they appeared to pick up a bit. No visible transport and or wind blown snow observed.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
1"
New Snow Density
Medium
Snow Surface Conditions
Dense Loose
Wind Crust
Melt-Freeze Crust
Damp
Snow Characteristics Comments

Another skiff of snow overnight to combine with the shot of snow from Monday. It's amazing how just three to four inches of snow and some wind can improve the riding conditions. Many of the slopes were cleaned up from the past weekends traffic and tracks. Unfortunately, not all of them, and it's important to recognize the old ruts out there when selecting slopes for riding. For the most part, many of the NNE, N and NNW facing slopes that are still holding cold snow appeared to fare well with this new few inches. Upper ridgelines and entrances to chutes that face these directions have scoured areas and sasturgi. Yet, once you get down into many of these slopes (with shady aspects) the riding on Tuesday was very good. Consistent, soft and dense settled powder was available in this type of terrain, and the riding has a bottomless feel in many places. Once below 9700 feet the sun appeared to dampen all slopes with aspects on the lower half of the compass. Low angle slopes on all aspects below 9700 feet were also getting damp by 1400. Supportable crusts were observed on SE, S and SW aspects, though it would be a stretch to call them corn at this point in time. After Wednesdays warmer temperatures combined with another good overnight refreeze, there should be good corn riding that may be able to hold up by following the sun and moving west as the day progresses. For Wednesday, it appears that there will still be good Spring powder on the Northerly slopes with angles > 30 degrees. And, if you can find this recipe, this kind of riding may still exist as low as 8500 feet. Along with these winter type conditions, supportable riding on a transitional m/f crust should be available on moderate slope angled runs with SE, S and SW aspects. These slopes may get punchy when they get a bit too warm.

Red Flags
Red Flags
Wind Loading
Red Flags Comments
There were definitely pockets of newly formed wind slabs today. Yet, they appeared to be stubborn and unreactive. There may still be some remote isolated areas with a wind loaded surprise lingering in steep rocky terrain.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Trend
Decreasing Danger
Problem #1 Comments

Very isolated hazard, see above.

Avalanche Problem #2
Problem
Wet Snow
Problem #2 Comments

When I exited at 1530 there were no visible signs of instability observed today. Though, with the the intense sun blasting the western aspects, there may have been some shallow wet activity later in the day. As the daytime highs and temperatures gradually climb over the next three days the potential for Wet Loose activity may continue to be an issue of concern. By Friday when we are forecasted to hit the 50's at 9000 feet (and maintain this pattern for a number of days) we may experience another round of significant Wet Activity. Cornices may become an issue by the weekend.