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Observation: Guardsman Pass area

Observation Date
11/26/2022
Observer Name
Gagne/Duvernay
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Guardsman Pass area
Location Name or Route
Guardsman Pass/PC Ridgeline
Weather
Sky
Overcast
Precipitation
Light Snowfall
Wind Direction
Southwest
Wind Speed
Moderate
Weather Comments
Southwest winds were gusty along exposed ridges and peaks, but no wind-drifting occurring. Very light snow showers with the arrival of the cold front mid-afternoon.
Snow Characteristics
Snow Surface Conditions
Dense Loose
Faceted Loose
Melt-Freeze Crust
Snow Characteristics Comments
< 1 meter in upper elevations in Guardsman Pass area along the PC ridgeline. The top half of the snowpack is weak and faceted and the bottom half is turning to facets, with a 5-10 cm layer of damp snow right near the ground. This is some of the weakest snow I have found in the Cottonwoods and Millcreek Canyon where the facets down near the ground are moving from 1F (stronger) to 4F (weaker) snow. In some thinner areas (~60-75 cms) it is easy to push a ski pole right to the ground.
I have not found any surface hoar in upper LCC or BCC, but the near-surface facets are plenty weak.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Poor Snowpack Structure
Red Flags Comments
Awaiting a slab on top of the current snowpack to see how the facets will react to a loading event.
Comments
The past two days I have been looking where the weak snow can be found ahead of what is hopefully a stormy week. There is plenty of weak, faceted snow at the surface on the shady slopes on the northern half of the compass. I have been focusing more on the "off" aspects that have some east and west. Here is what I have found after looking at the snowpack in upper LCC and BCC as well as portions of the PC ridgeline near Guardsman Pass area:
- Aspects facing northwest through north through east are dry facets and this is the weakest snow.
- Aspects facing southwest/south/southeast are crusted from strong sunshine and warm temperatures on Saturday. There are weaker facets underneath the crusts, but these aspects most likely will not have a lingering persistent weak layer (PWL) problem that the northerly aspects hold.
- I am generally finding west aspects are crusted, but I also found a thin 5mm layer of faceted snow (from radiation recrystallization or RR) on top of the crusts. I don't expect this RR to be a widespread problem, but there may be a few isolated pockets where RR exists. Ordinarily, RR facets are destroyed by warmer temperatures and winds ahead of a cold front.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Low
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Low
Coordinates