Donner Summit Observations

Location Name: 
Mt. Judah/Anderson Ridge
Region: 
Donner Summit Area
Date and time of observation: 
Sat, 03/12/2011 - 12:00
Location Map: 
United States
39° 17' 9.6036" N, 120° 19' 16.7124" W
See map: Google Maps
US


Red Flags: 
Observation made by: Professional Observer
Snowpit Observations
More detailed information about the snowpack: 

Variable conditions existed throughout the Donner Summit area today.  Solar aspects, SE-S, had 4'' of soft corn snow from 8000' down to 7400' by 11:30am, at the lower elevations this snow was wet and slightly sticky.  The moderate SW winds and cloud cover kept upper elevations cool and wet snow instabilities to a minimum.  On shaded N-NE aspects there was a mixed bag of windboard, some pockets of soft unconsolidated snow, and large areas of firm supportable and breakable crusts.  There are many areas of challenging conditions out there currently.  In wind exposed areas, the snow surface was scoured down to the recent rain crust, which was firm and ski supportive but slightly punchy in spots with boots.

All observations from today pointed towards a mostly stable snowpack on all aspects and elevations.

Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
Yes
Cloud Cover: 
50% of the sky covered by clouds
Air temperature: 
Below Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Moderate
Precipitation: 
Snow
Air temperature trend: 
Warming
Wind Direction: 
Southwest
Accumulation rate: 
More detailed information about the weather: 

Very light snow in the morning hours with no accumulation.  Moderate to strong SW winds with minimal amounts of snow transport.