Observations from Relay Peak

Location Name: 
Relay Peak
Region: 
Mount Rose Area
Date and time of observation: 
Sat, 04/06/2013 - 10:30
Location Map: 
United States
39° 19' 3.684" N, 119° 56' 32.64" W
See map: Google Maps
US


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

Poor visibility and light snowfall in the Mount Rose area today. New snow amounts were a trace below 9,000' and 1 inch above 9,000'. Wind loaded pockets of near treeline terrain held up to 4 inches of wind loaded snow on top of melt-freeze crust. Good bonding was observed at the crust/storm snow interface. No signs of slab instability were observed in this area today in either formal snowpit data or informal snowmobile slope cuts.

In this area at 9,800' recent melt-freeze conditions had affected only the top 1 foot of the snowpack. The recent melt-freeze layers were in a frozen state with cold snow below.

This is a significant contrast to other lower elevation portions of the forecast area where significant amounts of slowly refreezing wet snow exist below the recent storm snow. This is especially the case for areas below 8,000'.

Snowpit or crown profile photo or graph: 
Snowpack photos: 
Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
Yes
Cloud Cover: 
100% of the sky covered by clouds
Air temperature: 
Below Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Moderate
Precipitation: 
Snow
Air temperature trend: 
Static
Wind Direction: 
Southwest
Accumulation rate: 
Less than 1 in. per hour
More detailed information about the weather: