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Observation: Silver Fork

Observation Date
11/20/2013
Observer Name
lara kendall
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Silver Fork
Location Name or Route
grizzly, east bowl silver, west bowl
Weather
Sky
Obscured
Precipitation
Moderate Snowfall
Wind Direction
South
Wind Speed
Light
Weather Comments
Today started off with periods of light snowfall which picked up to moderate. Light winds from the south felt cold along the ridegline mid afternoon. Visibility was difficult at times with the lowering cloud ceiling and consistent snowfall. Felt like winter!
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
4"
New Snow Density
Low
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Snow Characteristics Comments

By 2:30pm I measured 4.5" of new at 10,000ft. The upside down snowpack made for challenging skiing while rock dodging still added an element of excitement. Last weekends snow is starting to consolidate into a more uniform slab sitting on top of ~4" of facets. The snowpack is becoming moist as we were able to make snowballs out of both the slab and the faceted layer. All solar aspects contained a melt/freeze crust. Super low angle "meadow skippy" North was buttah!

Red Flags
Red Flags
Cracking
Poor Snowpack Structure
Red Flags Comments
It seems that our poor snowpack structure is beginning to heal itself over time. The only cracking we got was walking the emma ridgeline in the wind affected northerly facing terrain.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
New Snow
Problem #1 Comments

We avoided high North and areas of obvious wind loading. These are still places were you could find an avalanche.

Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate