Observation Date
1/20/2017
Observer Name
Luke
Region
Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon » White Pine
Location Name or Route
White Pine
Weather
Sky
Overcast
Precipitation
Moderate Snowfall
Wind Direction
Northeast
Wind Speed
Strong
Weather Comments
Started mid-morning low in White PIne with no wind, light snowfall. Wind and snowfall increased as I made my way up to the basin between Red and White Baldy.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
8"
New Snow Density
Low
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Faceted Loose
Wind Crust
Snow Characteristics Comments
Any aspect that saw significant sun the last few days (ESE to WSW) had about 20 cm of new snow over a melt-freeze crust, the rest was great. The new snow on top of the crust did not bond very well were I went.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Wind Loading
Cracking
Red Flags Comments
I felt that the new loose snow was the most prominent issue today, not bad except in terrain that you wouldn't want to be knocked around at all. The wind-loading may become problematic once this storm series passes on Tuesday. I guess we'll see.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Wind Drifted Snow
Trend
Increasing Danger
Problem #1 Comments
Winds was sustained above 9500' in open terrain, I attached a picture below, this was normal conditions. Lots of wind sculpting the rollers even down low in White Pine basin as I headed down around 2 pm.
Avalanche Problem #2
Problem
New Snow
Trend
Same
Problem #2 Comments
Not a ton of new snow, and it was quite dry and fluffy. Not really a problem unless you're skiing above a cliff and skied into your slough.
Comments
Shovel shear broke this block at about 35 cm down... it was not replicated on either the shovel tilt test or ECT, neither of which produced notable results. The pit was NE facing at around 10100' and about 28 degrees.
Graupel coming down on the new snow around 1 pm.
Photo of the wind near West Scottie's. This was the norm from noon onwards.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate
