Observation: Forest Lake

Compared to the snowpack just a few miles north near the Cottonwood Canyons, the snowpack in this area of American Fork Canyon is much shallower and weaker. The CERC is only about an inch thick here. Beneath the crust, the snow is dry, loose, and faceted. A layer of buried surface hoar was found on several shady slopes about 5 inches beneath the surface.

The gradual warming over the last two days has allowed the new snow instabilities to settle out. Roller balls and very small loose wet avalanches have occurred during the last few days. With warmer temperatures on the way, reaching above freezing at 10,000 feet, I expect more wet snow activity in the coming days.