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Observation: Pleasant Creek

Observation Date
3/28/2020
Observer Name
John Pikus
Region
Skyline » Pleasant Creek
Location Name or Route
Pleasant Creek
Weather
Sky
Broken
Precipitation
Light Snowfall
Wind Direction
West
Wind Speed
Moderate
Weather Comments
Mixed bag of weather today. Most of the afternoon was filled with intermittent snow showers. There was a brief burst of graupel around 4:00 but most of the new snow was falling as stellars. Winds alternated between calm and moderate. They came out of the west for most of the afternoon but around 5:30 they started coming from the south and became more sustained in nature. Skies finally cleared around 7:00 which was too late for any ,major heating to occur.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
4"
New Snow Density
Low
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Snow Characteristics Comments
The remarkable snow conditions continue! Probably about 4 more inches of low density snow fell today, on top of about 6-8 inches that fell over the previous two days. Snow was bonding well outside of wind affected zones below ridgelines. North aspects are totally bottomless at upper elevations. The new snow got a little bit damp below about 8,700 feet but not too bad and certainly not enough to provoke any wet activity.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Recent Avalanches
Wind Loading
Cracking
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Wind Drifted Snow
Trend
Increasing Danger
Problem #1 Comments
Winds were strong enough to drift snow today, predominantly onto east and north facing slopes. This problem was increasing throughout the day. I experienced minor cracking in fresh wind drifts along the skintrack. In the late afternoon I noted some small natural windslab avalanches and then triggered one myself on a ski cut (see separate avalanche entry.) This was my third day in a row skiing in this area and this is the first time I saw the new snow slabbing up. I would expect this problem to increase and perhaps become more consequential with continued moderate winds and more snow tomorrow.
Comments
Toured in Pleasant Creek this afternoon at elevations ranging from 7,400 to 10,300 feet, on predominantly north facing slopes. Main story of the day was increasingly sensitive windslabs. Today the only place where these seemed to be an issue was right below ridgelines and their behavior was predictable. I think the bump to moderate danger for today was spot on. i think things could be pretty touchy tomorrow depending on how much snow we get and how wet it is.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate
Coordinates