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Observation: Skyline

Observation Date
1/21/2018
Observer Name
Kobernik-Kendall
Region
Skyline
Location Name or Route
Fairview, Huntington, Spring City Canyons
Weather
Sky
Overcast
Precipitation
Light Snowfall
Wind Direction
Northwest
Wind Speed
Moderate
Weather Comments
Light snowfall continued all day adding perhaps another inch or so by the end of the day. Wind was gusty on the ridges above the 9800' level. Below that, the wind was pleasant.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
12"
New Snow Density
Low
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Snow Characteristics Comments

I measured 9" at the top of Fairview Canyon. The central Skyline from about Pleasant Creek through Ephraim Canyons did the best with a foot or slightly more. The new snow was VERY low density.

Red Flags
Red Flags
Wind Loading
Collapsing
Poor Snowpack Structure
Red Flags Comments
We saw all of these red flags during our travel today. The wind was drifting snow along the upper ridges onto NE and E facing slopes. We experienced localized collapsing, not any of the huge one's that startle you although we were traveling on very conservative terrain. The base of the snowpack consists of pure sugar on many of the upper elevation slopes warrenting the Poor Snowpack Structure red flag.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Trend
Same
Problem #1 Comments

The biggest concern is triggering and getting caught in an avalanche that breaks into weak faceted sugar snow near the ground. There is no way that you can justify getting onto steep terrain right now that has this weak snow present. It will get trickier as time goes on because we won't see any obvious signs of avalanches until perhaps the 4th person on the slope triggers something. I cannot stress enough that this situation calls for caution for some time to come.

Comments

The video below shows what my partner and I were finding up in the hills on Sunday.

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