Observation: Moab

Observation Date
12/15/2022
Observer Name
Maggie Nielsen, Brian Murdock, River Murdock
Region
Moab
Location Name or Route
North Woods
Red Flags
Red Flags
Poor Snowpack Structure
Comments
During our travels today, we experienced obscured skies, varying visibility, cold temps, soft snow, and intermittent snowfall. Things were fairly calm in regards to winds and there were no glaring signs of instability as we traveled. We weren't able to see much across the terrain due to poor visibility. At the top of Coyote Chute, Brian dug a quick pit and observed nearly 36" of newer snow on top of the old, brown layer. A compression test showed moderate instability in the upper ~24" of snow we received this last week. We moved quickly as the temperatures plummeted. Snow conditions were excellent on our decent and we only hit a handful of sharks under the surface. At the bottom of the run, larger flakes began falling(~1cm/hr) and by the time we reached the car we had 1-2cm accumulated on top of it. There are still dangers lurking out there and conservative judgment is a must given the poor snowpack structure and new snow loads we've been receiving.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Considerable
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Considerable