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Observation: Willows

Observation Date
1/1/2023
Observer Name
B
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Willows
Location Name or Route
West Willow
Weather
Sky
Overcast
Precipitation
Moderate Snowfall
Wind Speed
Calm
Weather Comments
Another day of at least S2 sustained snowfall with daytime highs ramping up to the low 30's at 8000'.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
11"
New Snow Density
Medium
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Damp
Snow Characteristics Comments
Silverfork HN (past 24 hours): 19", Silverfork HST: 31". The new snow that fell was cold and dry, and medium density, but the old snow surface before the storm was obviously warm and saturated. This plus the fact that daytime highs kept warming the snow continued to keep the overall storm snow either damp and or wet by mid day on all aspects below 8800'. Riding above 9000' was deep and a bit slow due to the storm totals, but fun. Trailbreaking was arduous.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Recent Avalanches
Rapid Warming
Poor Snowpack Structure
Red Flags Comments
Whether you call it Rapid Warming or just too warm for typical cold dry snow conditions, the fact is the structure in the new snow/storm snow remained inverted much of the time for the past 48 hours. Of Note: There was difficult to see evidence of very recent Avalanche activity in the ENE Arm Pit of the highest piece of West Willow. This is the shot off the high point where the Bear Trap ridge line intersects West Willow. No pictures and it was almost impossible to see the extent of the activity. Besides the debris that was visible coming from the upper starting zones, there were also small crowns that were visible on several steep rollovers mid slope. The steep NE Gully in upper West Willow also had evidence of recent activity.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
New Snow
Trend
Decreasing Danger
Problem #1 Comments
Storm Slab issues appeared to be the biggest problem in the area traveled and see above for details.
There was widespread natural Loose Dry in the upper 4 inche of the new snow that was also visible on many very steep slopes and these appeared to initiate during the early morning hours during the high PI.
Avalanche Problem #2
Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Trend
Same
Problem #2 Comments
Some of the reported P Slabs reported (like the Big Water Slide) appear to continue to indicate that the periphery locations like Mill Creek and the Parleys area are still housing weak potentially reactive persistent weak layers. With any kind of clearing on Monday it is likely there will be multiple naturals that occurred during this latest record SWE event.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
High
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Considerable
Coordinates