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Observation: Duke Bowl

Observation Date
12/17/2016
Observer Name
MichaelJanulaitis
Region
Uintas » Upper Weber Canyon » South Fork Weber River » Duke Bowl
Location Name or Route
Duke
Weather
Sky
Few
Wind Speed
Calm
Weather Comments
Brrrr. Very cold today in the Western Uintas. Started out with light snow then the sky cleard mid-day providing just a little releif on sunny slopes. Later afternoon it got very chilly.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
12"
New Snow Density
Low
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Snow Characteristics Comments

In sheltered slopes between 9K and 10K there was a solid 12 inches of light fluffy new snow from yesterday afternoon. Over 10K in exposed terrain quite a bit less about 6 inches, however; it's sitting on top a new dense layer another 6 inches thick. The trees above 10500 are thick with rime. The dense snow from 2 days ago is helping provide a platform, although I still had to dig my sled out at least 6 times today getting up to the top of Duke.

Red Flags
Red Flags
Heavy Snowfall
Wind Loading
Red Flags Comments
The snow pack is over a meter thick now and is pretty consistent throughout the pack. Notables are the new dense snow below the new cold snow, depth hoar on the ground and facets just above. I felt no collapses nor saw any cracking today.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Problem #1 Comments

My biggest concern today was a total failure of the entire snow pack in open terrain as well as steep terrain that did not previously slide. All the other layers seem to be pretty well behaved.

Comments

My pics show light powder up high that has not been wind effected which is not typical for this area and the rimed trees.

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