Observation Date
3/7/2015
Observer Name
Bruce Tremper
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Mill D North » Little Water
Location Name or Route
Little Water Peak
Weather
Sky
Clear
Wind Speed
Light
Weather Comments
Bluebird, warm, no clouds, warming temperature trend, shirtsleeves weather.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Density
Medium
Snow Surface Conditions
Dense Loose
Snow Characteristics Comments

The powder is now 4 days old and is dense but still rides quite nice on the upper elevation, shady aspects (N-E), but all other aspects are feeling the effects of the strong, near-equinox sun. It's amazing how many of the south facing slopes have melted back to bare ground so quickly.

Red Flags
Red Flags
Rapid Warming
Poor Snowpack Structure
Red Flags Comments
The temperature has been on a rising trend for several days and continues it's upward trajectory. The sunny slopes are all quite soggy or damp. My snowpits on northerly facing slopes show the buried, near-surface facets are still there and still producing clean shears but with a fair amount of effort, CT-22, and not propagating fractures. So it has adjusted to its load quite a bit over the past 4 days.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
New Snow
Problem #1 Comments

A couple snowpits on northerly facing slopes of Little Water Peak show the buried, near-surface facets are still there and still producing clean shears but with a fair amount of effort, (CT-22) and not propagating fractures on an ECT. So it has adjusted to its load quite a bit over the past 4 days. But both snowpits were in areas with 1.5 meters of snow. I would guess the thinner areas to be more suspect. Although a lot of slopes have tracks, you don't want to dive into everything with abandon quite yet. I would not be surprised to hear about someone popping out a slab in the right terrain. especially thin, rocky areas. I was going to put out snow profile and a video of my snowpit results but I just ran out of time this evening, plus I'm sure the avalanche world can live comfortably without seeing yet another video of unspectacular results with no propagation on an ECT. I'll spare you.

Avalanche Problem #2
Problem
Wet Snow
Problem #2 Comments

Temperatues are very warm with damp or soggy snow on all the sun exposed aspects. Expect continued, wet, loose sluffs in steep terrain, especially near rocks that heat up in the sun. Some slopes have gotten enough sun to stabilize. For instance I saw a south facing slope above Dog Lake that had well-developed, vertical drainage channels, which is a sign of stability. Still, you should practice the usual game of getting off the steep, sun exposed slopes before they get too soggy each day.

Comments

It's amazing how many south facing slopes have melted back out to bare ground just 4 days after the storm. This is the south facing terrain near Little Water Peak. That bare terrain is between 8,500 and 9,500 feet. The lower Mill D North road is bare in about 7 places so you have to walk for the first quarter mile from the Spruces parking lot.

You can see several avalanches in this photo from Wednesday--Soldier Fork, Wilson Fork and Wilson Glade--all northeast facing. Plus, some wet, loose sluffs on the south face of Gobbler's.

Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate