Observation: Electric Lake

Observation Date
3/20/2023
Observer Name
Magerl
Region
Skyline » Huntington Canyon » Electric Lake
Location Name or Route
Electric Lake
Weather
Weather Comments
Variable! At 11 A.M., swirling gusting winds blasting damp spindrift in all directions. Forget about getting a windbreak during transitions, the snow was coming from everywhere. Would have been a good day to be on a sled with a full-face helmet, goggles and a sled suit, but was not so kind for skinning. If you were in a sled suit, best to have not much underneath because it was warm. By 12:30 P.M. it felt like it had cooled off a bit, but the weather station numbers disagree. The sky opened up with a huge "Welcome to Spring!" snow special, and it dropped three inches in a hour. Snow slowed after dropping 5-6 inches between 11:30 A.M. and 1:30 P.M. By 2 P.M. a bit of blue sky, and by 2:30 P.M., hard shadows and the snow transformed very quickly into heavy wet.
Snow Characteristics
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Snow Characteristics Comments
Arrived to about 4-5 inches of fresh, but the wind was moving a lot of snow. Trailhead already had drifts of 18"-20". Found wind drifts mid-slope, up high and down low. Despite the humidity and damp snow saturating clothes and packs, it skied like a dream. After the pulse eased up, I measured 11" of fresh. Would have a been a blower over the cowling kind of day. Multiple hasty pits on Northeast and East faces between 8,700' and 9,000'. Most but not all failed on isolation on the top 7"-8" which sat on a damp crust. But had no sluffing, no collapsing, no cracking. On nothing steeper than 28 and the snow was all well-behaved. The combo of direct sun and the temperature rising from 30 to 34 between 2:10 P.M. and 2:40 P.M. brought an end to the party, and even straight north was heavy on the exit run.
Video
Welcome to spring! Fresh snow dumping hard, and then low-angle laps on 11 inches of light powder.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Low
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate