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Observation Date
1/25/2019
Observer Name
jg
Region
Uintas » Hoyt Peak
Location Name or Route
Hoyt Peak
Weather
Sky
Scattered
Wind Direction
Northwest
Wind Speed
Light
Weather Comments
Clouds increased during the day and I noticed some slight greenhousing when I was on the upper elevation ridge line. The snow surface was just slightly damp and it got noticeably warmer when the cloud cover increased. Light winds not moving any snow. Temps in the mid teens at elevation.
Snow Characteristics
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Dense Loose
Red Flags
Red Flags
Poor Snowpack Structure
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Trend
Same
Problem #1 Comments
Same to decreasing danger unless a new load comes into play.
Avalanche Problem #2
Problem
Wind Drifted Snow
Trend
Same
Problem #2 Comments
Lots of soft snow available for transport even though I wasn't seeing signs of wind loading.
Snow Profile
Aspect
South
Elevation
10,100'
Slope Angle
18°
Comments
I took a nice walk up Hoyt Peak to have a look at the high terrain in the area. Even through binoculars, I was surprised to see no evidence of avalanches from this most recent storm cycle. I dug a test pit to have a look at the structure on an upper elevation south facing slope. It seems like south facing terrain has been suspect this year and I wanted to have a look at Weston's junk trunk at a higher elevation. There area series of crusts through the pack with faceted grains below the crusts. The weakest snow was fist hard and below a decomposing crust about 85cms down (33"). It's not a total junk show below 85cms but right around 85 cms its definitely loose and weak.
Even though the snowpack structure is sketchy the snow wasn't showing any other red flags. Pit tests failed with hard moderate effort and did propagate across the column. I'm feeling like we're trending toward a more stable snowpack but there's one big lemon, the structure. That being said, it's not a "go anywhere" snowpack and good decision making is imperative. If you do trigger a slide, it most likely will fail mid to deep in the pack and the consequence will be high. If you're traveling in steep south facing terrain or terrain with an easterly component or in steep terrain that's been wind loaded I'd go with considerable danger. Moderate danger in other terrain.
Photo below shows the faceted grains at the weak interface 85cms down.
Lots of rime in the trees and recent winds have been blowing it down onto the snow surface.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate