Loose wet forming on upper elevation E aspects and highly variable conditions on Jakes.

We toured NE and E aspects on Jake's Peak today to see how the weaker overnight refreeze, overnight air temperature inversion, and snow surface melt today was affecting the upper snowpack on those aspects. Any areas in the sun were experiencing snow surface melt while areas in the shade remained frozen.

Above about 8,500' on NE aspect below treeline terrain, shaded areas held dry surface facets. These same surface facets were becoming wet in any areas of sun exposure.

The upper snowpack on E aspect terrain was still unconsolidated and in a transitional state from drier snow to consolidated melt-freeze. This transitional snow was wet and becoming close to creating small loose wet avalanches in response to ski cuts in steep terrain at 11:30 am. This was most prominent in the 8,000' to 9,000' elevation range. It seemed like in another 30-60 min, a loose wet avalanche problem would be present.