Observation: Monitors

Observation Date
1/9/2020
Observer Name
mark white
Region
Salt Lake » Park City Ridgeline » Monitors
Location Name or Route
Monitors
Weather
Sky
Overcast
Precipitation
Moderate Snowfall
Wind Direction
Northwest
Wind Speed
Light
Weather Comments
Cold with breaks of sun and not much snow in the morning, increasing cloud cover and a period of heavy snowfall in the afternoon.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
9"
New Snow Density
Low
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Snow Characteristics Comments
Maybe 6 inches at the upper Solitude parking, increasing to 8 or 9 in the Monitors, low density and non wind affected.
Red Flags
Red Flags Comments
No red flags today, no excessive load seeing the snow was so light, no slab formation or wind loading seeing there was only light winds and no sluffing in the terrain covered.
Comments
Went to the Monitors on the PC Ridgeline today, there was no natural activity in either bowl except for a few natural cornice drops. Cutting into South Monitor Bowl revealed about 9 inches of light density snow sitting on windboard in the top 20 ft then it turn into that same 9 inches sitting on a denser, creaming, spongy base with no bottom feeding noted for the rest of the ride. Sluffing was not a factor even in the steeper terrain, I guess the only red flag was heavy snowfall which lasted about an hour in the late afternoon, it probably snowed 3 inches in this short time period then it was over. There wasn't enough wind to create any slab formation in the terrain covered. On the south facing the bottom could be felt in steeper terrain but not on the low angle. There wasn't enough sun or heat today to affect the south facing and still should be powder in the AM.
photo is of the period of heavy snowfall in the afternoon and the cloud deck in the early afternoon
Hazard was moderate in the terrain covered today and if we don't get a large bump in wind speeds or snow amounts I would expect the same for tomorrow.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate
Coordinates