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Observation: White Baldy

Observation Date
2/20/2022
Observer Name
Gagne
Region
Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon » White Pine » White Baldy
Location Name or Route
White Pine - White Baldy
Weather
Sky
Broken
Wind Direction
Southwest
Wind Speed
Moderate
Weather Comments
Increasing clouds with swirling winds in exposed terrain.
Snow Characteristics
Snow Surface Conditions
Dense Loose
Faceted Loose
Wind Crust
Melt-Freeze Crust
Snow Characteristics Comments
The 5-10 cms of snow from Wednesday has either been wind-damaged, sun or heat-affected, or has turned into weak facets on sheltered slopes > 8,500' facing northwest through east. There is widespread variability on the existing snow surface and it will complicate avalanche danger if snow/water amounts come in on the high-end.
I did find some pockets of recent wind drifts but they weren't very reactive.
The increasingly strong and swirling winds in exposed terrain in the alpine seems to have destroyed surface hoar that I and some others were finding on Saturday.
Comments
Spend two field days this weekend looking at the existing snow surface ahead of - hopefully - new snow early this week. There is widespread variability of the snow surface with some weak/faceted snow that is not widespread but spatially-variable. What I was finding:
- weak facets on slopes facing northwest through northeast (and some east aspects as well) above 8,500';
- wind, sun, and temperature crusts with a thin layer of facets on some of these crusts;
- a snowpack that is mostly faceted to the ground in thinner snowpack areas (especially on slopes that slide during the late December avalanche cycle).
Overall this will mean that folks entering avalanche terrain over the next few days will need to continually assess each slope looking for weak snow underneath any new storm or wind-blown snow.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate