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Observation: Ben Lomond

Observation Date
12/22/2019
Observer Name
Derek DeBruin
Region
Ogden » Ben Lomond
Location Name or Route
Ben Lomond, Rodeo Ridge, Zero G
Weather
Sky
Overcast
Wind Direction
South
Wind Speed
Strong
Weather Comments
Warm up and down today's tour. Above freezing at the trailhead and still pretty balmy near the ridgeline; the wind was the overriding factor in adding more layers once we got up high, not the air temperature. Winds were fairly well behaved down low, but made their presence felt starting around 7000ft or so. Winds approaching the Chilly Peak ridgeline were moderate, while winds on the ridge itself were quite strong, but never so strong that anyone got knocked over. There was an impressive amount of snow being scoured on the windward fetches, leaving plenty in deposition zones. Wind mixing across the micro terrain features also created a few "snownados," leaving quite the sting on skin exposed to the icy vortex.
Snow Characteristics
Snow Surface Conditions
Dense Loose
Faceted Loose
Wind Crust
Melt-Freeze Crust
Damp
Snow Characteristics Comments
Really wish I could check the box for "powder," but alas, I think that's all done until the next snowfall. Up high we found the full panoply of wind affected snow: scoured, crusted, packed, scalloped, styrofoam, sastrugi, a bit of cornice.
Down low we found a bit of decaying melt-freeze crust in spots. Otherwise, damp snow conditions in most of the area. We did also find a few places of surprisingly good dense loose faceted snow. Best guess is the widespread surface hoar of earlier this week collapsed with warm temps, but hadn't quite fully succumbed to dampness yet. Given the warmth and wind, I doubt the surface hoar sticks around for the next snowfall.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Wind Loading
Red Flags Comments
Wind was definitely the theme today. Luckily, wind loading transport was clear visible, and the familiar pillows, styrofoam snow, etc. made it quite reasonable to avoid these zones.
Comments
Ben Lomond viewed from the southeast. Arrows indicate wind loading, including somewhat atypical fetch zones. I imagine the Bailey's zone is pretty wind loaded at this point. On the approach this morning, the summit featured a veritable wave of consistent plume dumping into the Ben Lomond/Willard headwall.
Chilly Peak. The speed smear in the photo was active snow transport from wind (right to left across the photo). The red line indicates the approximate location of the edge of the cornice. We found limited cornicing and pretty small size for what we did see, though plenty of large snow walls where I anticipate cornices developing eventually. But at the moment, the ridge line is fairly cornice free.
Photo of the back (west) side of Mount Ogden from town. Lots of scouring visible up high, more so than is typical. (Snow free terrain down low is largely due to melt, not wind.)
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate