1-3 inches of transitioning snow at Carson Pass

1-3" of transitioning recent snow was observed today, on top of firm and supportable old snow. East aspects were already getting wet at 10am due to direct solar input. West aspects had a thin crust from yesterday's warming. North aspects still held cold, unconsolidated snow though it was sticky and transitioning to wet. I did not travel on any south aspects. On every steep and sunny test slope that I tried, I was able to get very small wet loose activity at the old/new interface. A cool NE wind was not enough to counter-balance the strong sun and warm temps. No wind transport was observed. Cloud cover built significantly throughout the morning, but prior to my departure at noon, clouds had not built to thunderheads or resulted in precipitation.

Pics 1-3: Consistent results on test slopes at the very shallow new/old interface. 

Pic 4: Even the dogs got into it, initiating roller balls on this moderately angled feature. 

Pic 5: Melting snowpack on an E aspect at 8500ft.

Pic 6: Cloud cover building over Red Lake and Stevens Peaks. Patch skiing season on their S and W aspects.