Warm day on Trimmer

Location Name: 
Trimmer Peak
Region: 
Luther Pass Area (including Job and Freel)
Date and time of observation: 
Tue, 03/08/2011 - 12:00
Location Map: 
United States
38° 52' 41.916" N, 119° 55' 32.808" W
See map: Google Maps
US


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

Pit: Although ECT tests showed propagation potential, mitt pits showed poor shear quality at this layer and ski cuts failed to produce. No signs of instability observed on N aspects besides ECT results.

Snow surface on N aspect became moist to wet below ~8,000ft by mid day. Ski cuts on steep NW features below 8,000ft produced small wet slides on a bed surface from 3/6 wet precip event. Terrain features available for these tests were small, and limited the runout potential.

Pic: Warm, humid, and overcast day. Cloud ceiling at roughly 10,000ft. BKN clouds allowed for significant solar radiation and impeded long wave loss. Winds were generally calm, though clouds just overhead were moving quickly from the NW. Ridgetop winds occasionally light NW, but no blowing snow observed.

 

Snowpit or crown profile photo or graph: 
Snowpack photos: 
Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
No
Air temperature: 
Above Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Light
Precipitation: 
None
Air temperature trend: 
Warming
Wind Direction: 
Northwest
Accumulation rate: 
None
More detailed information about the weather: