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Observation: Moab

Observation Date
1/1/2019
Observer Name
Charlie Ramser
Region
Moab
Location Name or Route
Laurel Highway
Red Flags
Red Flags
Wind Loading
Poor Snowpack Structure
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Trend
Same
Problem #1 Comments
Hmm. I tend to look for all the squared out, faceted, sugary snow buried deep on the cold north facing slopes. I dug a pit right in the sunshine today, on a south aspect, and found all sorts of snow lacking cohesion and having some faceting going on. This layer was most prominent and weakest roughly 30 cm down in the current snowpack.
Avalanche Problem #2
Problem
Wind Drifted Snow
Problem #2 Comments
Observed some transported snow/wind slabs forming as I got higher and in more exposed terrain. Today around 2 pm I saw wind slabs between 2 and 6 cm. They weren't too hard but had noticeable more cohesion compared to the low density fluff beneath, and affected skiing conditions negatively.
Snow Profile
Aspect
South
Elevation
10,700'
Comments
Snowpack on south facing slope surprised me a bit today, partly because these are slopes I tend to investigate the least. A hard crust at the bottom of the snowpack and a few different faceting layers taking form between it and the recent storm snow. I'm not a guru, but definitely poor snow structure.
After a couple CT's and easy failures, it was clear that the recent storm snow hasn't yet bonded to the old snow surface. As that snow settles and bonds, along with more wind transportation, there might be more of a slab recipe.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Considerable
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Considerable
Coordinates