Observations from Powderhouse

Location Name: 
Powderhouse
Region: 
Luther Pass Area (including Job and Freel)
Date and time of observation: 
Sat, 02/19/2011 - 11:30
Location Map: 
United States
38° 47' 1.4244" N, 119° 58' 34.122" W
See map: Google Maps
US


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

Pit: Consistent with several mitt pits, ski cutting skin track, and ski cutting convex rolls. Failures were easy to initiate, but failed to propagate on density change just below surface.

Pic 1: Small shooting crack on windloaded roll on summit ridge. As soon as I moved forward after taking this picture, the slab broke into small pieces and failed to propagate any more.

Pic 2: Interesting how quickly signs of settlement became observable.

Several of the steeper rolls appeared to have failed naturally at the density change sometime last night - all very localized and small. Quite a bit of recent loose snow natural activity observed on Flagpole/Echo - possibly remote triggered by Gazex over HWY 50.

Snowpit or crown profile photo or graph: 
Snowpack photos: 
Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
Yes
Air temperature: 
Below Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Light
Precipitation: 
None
Air temperature trend: 
Static
Wind Direction: 
West
Accumulation rate: 
None
More detailed information about the weather: