Observation Date
11/15/2014
Observer Name
Ted Scroggin
Region
Uintas » Mirror Lake Highway » Bald Mtn Pass
Location Name or Route
Hwy 150: Murdock Pk.
Weather
Sky
Obscured
Wind Direction
West
Wind Speed
Moderate
Weather Comments
Blustery winter conditions up on the pass this afternoon. Lots of blowing and drifting snow and quite cool temperatures.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
10"
New Snow Density
Medium
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Snow Characteristics Comments
The snow conditions were a little inverted with denser, heavy wind blown snow on the surface with lighter snow underneath.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Wind Loading
Cracking
Collapsing
Poor Snowpack Structure
Red Flags Comments
In my short trip around the Murdock Meadow area, I was experiencing many collapses and some shooting cracks while trail breaking. Digging down into the snowpack I was finding the 8-10" of new snow from last night sitting on top of a thin layer of weak faceted snow that was above a possible heat layer (crust).
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Trend
Decreasing Danger
Problem #1 Comments
The new snow and moderate to strong winds created some slab like condtions, with stronger denser snow resting on lighter denser snow underneath.
Comments
A few photos from my travels today. Photos 1&2: Much of the high elevation north facing terrain is still not very connected, with lots of rocky and brushy areas still visible. 3. A little hard to see, but these are some of the cracks I experienced while traveling around today. They are a good indication of strong snow sitting on top of weaker snow underneath.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate