Observation Date
4/24/2014
Observer Name
Toby and Liam Weed
Region
Logan » Little Bear » Coldwater Canyon
Location Name or Route
Coldwater Canyon-Wellsville Mountain Wilderness
Weather
Sky
Broken
Wind Direction
Southwest
Wind Speed
Moderate
Weather Comments
Noted drifting off ridgetops. Very warm in the sheltered lower part of the canyon despite cloud cover and some wind up higher.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
5"
New Snow Density
High
Snow Surface Conditions
Damp
Snow Characteristics Comments
Fresh snow from Tuesday very wet, warm, and sloppy, but fresh white now covering up the dusty old snow surface, and most slopes are nice and smooth.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Wind Loading
Rapid Warming
Red Flags Comments
Noticed visible drifting at upper elevations while en route up the Maple Bench Road. Rapid warming creating heightened wet avalanche conditions. A few recent natural roller balls in the gully bottom... Small sluffs and roller balls easy to trigger involving the fresh snow.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Wet Snow
Problem #1 Comments
Concern about possible natural loose wet avalanches prompted us to turn around a ways up Coldwater Canyon, which is an avalanche path and a steep-sided gully terrain trap... Fresh snow certainly warms up and gets saturated quickly in the Wellsville Rnge this time of year. We noticed a few small natural loose avalanches high in Bird Canyon.
Comments
Here's a video observation........
Video
We could see a couple recent loose wet avalanches up high in Bird Canyon. Natural roller balls were enough evidence of wet snow instability for us to reevaluate our route up the avalanche gully, and the slush skiing didn't look so good, so we decided to turn around.
There's still really good coverage in the Wellsvilles for this time of year. It's pretty cool to approach these vast white alpine slopes traveling through greening meadows, early wildflowers, and budding hardwoods.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate
