Observation: Butler Fork

Observation Date
3/8/2019
Observer Name
T Diegel, Pdiegel
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Butler Fork
Location Name or Route
butler, circle all
Weather
Sky
Obscured
Precipitation
Heavy Snowfall
Wind Direction
West
Wind Speed
Moderate
Weather Comments
Puking snow between 3 and 5 (and beyond?)
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
8"
New Snow Density
Medium
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Dense Loose
Snow Characteristics Comments
the snow was pretty thick and creamy due to the warmish temps.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Heavy Snowfall
Wind Loading
Red Flags Comments
Snowed really hard with frontal passage (I guess; sounds impressive!).
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
New Snow
Trend
Increasing Danger
Problem #1 Comments
On south facing Circle All that may have had a bit of wind loading adding to the high natural snowfall rates we had some big sluffs that ran far and fast. So though we didn't do much digging, it appears that there wasn't a very good bond of the new snow to the s. facing crust (and it was challenging skinning up it with the slick crust underneath. It was worthy to keep moving out of the fall line since the "sluff" moved quite fast and surprisingly far.
It will likely gain some stability as the snow rates wind down tonight/tomorrow. I'm sure that people will be hitting the S. face of superior in the morning and it'll probably be fine, but I'd probably be a little wary of big committing south facing lines, tho to be fair it may be crustier on the lower-elevation lines due to the warm temps over the last coupla days.
We weren't able to see how the bond was of the new snow to the lighter powder on the north side.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Considerable
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Considerable