Observation Date
3/23/2017
Observer Name
Greg Gagne with Dave Pease
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Cardiff Fork
Location Name or Route
Cardiff Fork / Cardiac Ridge
Weather
Sky
Obscured
Precipitation
Light Snowfall
Wind Direction
Northwest
Wind Speed
Light
Weather Comments
Winds seemed to pick up slightly after noon, but were still generally light even along exposed ridges.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
8"
New Snow Density
High
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Damp
Snow Characteristics Comments
Thursday storm snow very elevation-dependent. We were finding 10 cms (4") below 9K, and up to 25 cms (10") just below 11K. Thursday storm snow was bonding poorly to the dense graupel that fell on Wednesday.
The old snow surface was somewhat supportable below 9K, although you had to get above 9500' for the old crust to have frozen for it to be supportable. Very moist grains underneath the crusts, even on upper elevation north aspects.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Recent Avalanches
Red Flags Comments
Several natural avalanches had run down most of Cardiac Bowl (submitted as a separate observation.) These were mostly class 1.5, although one was a class 2 (enough to bury a person.) A few naturals in other areas of Cardiff covered up old skin tracks (perhaps Mark White's from Wednesday?)
Am guessing these ran during the early morning on Thursday as the debris was covered by ~5 cms (2") of new snow.
These avalanches were all loose storm snow and were running at the graupel interface from Wednesday.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
New Snow
Trend
Decreasing Danger
Problem #1 Comments
We also were finding it was very easy to trigger shallow loose storm snow avalanches on steeper slopes. (Video below showing how easy it was to trigger these.) These were 10-20 cms (4-8") and were running at the interface with the graupel from Wednesday. As snowfall decreases overnight, am thinking this instability will rapidly stabilize.
Avalanche Problem #2
Problem
Wet Snow
Trend
Increasing Danger
Problem #2 Comments
With sun and warm temperatures forecasted for Friday, loose wet snow avalanches will be the primary concern.
Comments
Video illustrating how easy it was to trigger loose storm snow avalanches today.
Video
Friday avalanche concerns will be loose wet avalanches from the Thursday storm snow. Snow totals from this storm were modest ~20 cms (8") so these will not be large, but they will be widespread on east through west aspects, as well as all lower elevation aspects (where fortunately there is less storm snow.)
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate
