Mild temps, strong winds at Carson Pass

Location Name: 
Frog Lake Ridge
Region: 
Carson Pass Area
Date and time of observation: 
Tue, 03/27/2012 - 12:00
Location Map: 
United States
38° 41' 22.6068" N, 119° 59' 8.7144" W
See map: Google Maps
US


Red Flags: 
Whumphing noises, shooting cracks, or collapsing
Recent loading by new snow, wind, or rain
Observation made by: Professional Observer
Snowpit Observations
More detailed information about the snowpack: 

Mild temps combined with strong winds and moderate to intense wind transport was producing dense wind slabs on several slopes observed along Frog Lake Ridge. Strong winds were depositing snow well downslope from ridgetops, but not yet deep enough away from ridgetops and/or crossloaded slopes to be of concern in the locations observed today.

Pic: Ski cuts of test slopes produced shooting cracks where slope was well supported, and shallow failures where unsupported. Weak layer observed to be lower density new snow just beneath the developing wind slab.

Videos: Consistent with other ECTPs on several different wind loaded test slopes, with both Easy and Moderate results on the lower density snow. Graupel layer I refer to in video 2 was observed in several areas just above the previous crust, but not reactive to formal tests.

 

Snowpack photos: 
Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
Yes
Air temperature: 
Above Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Strong
Precipitation: 
None
Air temperature trend: 
Cooling
Wind Direction: 
Southwest
Accumulation rate: 
None
More detailed information about the weather: 

Moderate snowfall arrived with cooling temps and continued strong winds at around 1:30pm.