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Observation: Twin Lakes area

Observation Date
2/4/2016
Observer Name
Dustin
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Twin Lakes area
Location Name or Route
Twin Lakes
Weather
Precipitation
Light Snowfall
Wind Direction
West
Wind Speed
Calm
Weather Comments
Some light snow and west wind, not enough to transport much if any of the fresh skiff of snow we found in the Patsy area. Was trying to clear out this afternoon but I guess there's been enough moisture with this system to keep the snow falling in the upper canyons.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
1"
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Snow Characteristics Comments
Travel today was up to Twin Lakes from Brighton, and skiing the Heaven's Gate area...Jumped on to some steeper slopes today, but kept it to mid-elevation, sheltered N/NW slopes, which held about 35cms of somewhat settled but very soft snow. Been lucky with the cold temps and lack of sun early this week...although we did find some greenhouse effect and crust on the sunnier slopes today. Not much activity in the new snow were we traveled, but interesting variability and distribution of the wind-loads was on display. Plenty of evidence of the E/NE winds from Sunday/Monday, when the southerlies skied fantastically, but in our travels today, sheltered NE/N/NW was the ticket.
Red Flags
Red Flags Comments
Nothing much on display today. Could see some pockets that broke out during Solitude's control work up there, but things felt pretty organized and stable below 10,000 feet.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Wind Drifted Snow
Trend
Decreasing Danger
Problem #1 Comments
Like I said, saw a pocket or two above the Highway traverse were all that we could see, but seems like most of the loading occurred Sunday/Monday on Southerlies, which we didn't touch today.
Avalanche Problem #2
Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Trend
Same
Problem #2 Comments
Think with what we've seen this week in terms of avalanches and wind that the forecast for Considerable on some slopes is deserved. It's been funky, and been tragic thus far...so I think we are all rightly hesitant to put this one to bed until these slopes stop breaking at the ground. Will be anxious to see what others may have found out there today, and what we might see with some more wind and better visibility tomorrow....will we get this down to Moderate in the next few days?
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Considerable
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Considerable
Coordinates