Small Wind Slabs on Castle Peak

Location Name: 
Castle Peak
Region: 
Donner Summit Area
Date and time of observation: 
Sun, 02/16/2014 - 15:30
Location Map: 
United States
39° 21' 52.8156" N, 120° 21' 34.524" W
See map: Google Maps
US


Red Flags: 
Recent loading by new snow, wind, or rain
Observation made by: Forecaster
Snowpit Observations
More detailed information about the snowpack: 

3-5 inches of new snow existed on top of a thick and supportable rain crust in the Castle Peak area today. Tahoe Nordic Ski Patrol reported small wind slabs that did not extend very far downslope on the near and above treeline N-NE facing slopes on Andesite Ridge. Snowpit tests that they performed on nearby slopes indicated that the wind slabs were bonding to the crusts below them. Father up on Castle Peak I saw wind slabs on the near and above treeline NW-N aspects that measured up to 16 inches thick in the most heavily wind loaded areas. Ski cuts on wind loaded test slopes and snowpit data on these deeper wind slabs also did not reveal significant signs of instability. On the N side of Castle Peak small cornices had formed above the steep wind loaded slopes. 

On the wind scoured SW-W aspects the sun did cause the top 1-2 inches of surface snow to soften in the afternoon.

Snowpit or crown profile photo or graph: 
Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
No
Cloud Cover: 
25% of the sky covered by clouds
Air temperature: 
Below Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Light
Precipitation: 
None
Air temperature trend: 
Static
Wind Direction: 
Southwest
Accumulation rate: 
None
More detailed information about the weather: 

Winds remained light for most of the day and only increased to moderate above 9000 ft. on Castle Peak today.