New Snow and Wind on Powderhouse Peak

Location Name: 
Powderhouse Peak
Region: 
Luther Pass Area (including Job and Freel)
Date and time of observation: 
Wed, 02/17/2016 - 13:00
Location Map: 
United States
38° 47' 10.428" N, 119° 58' 46.272" 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: 

1 to 2 inches of new snow had fallen on Powderhouse Peak this morning. This new snow fell on top of melt-freeze crusts and seemed to quickly bond to the old snow surfaces. The upper 10 to 15 cm of snow was moist and the snowpack below that consisted of layers of well bonded rounded snow and crusts. Observations, ski cuts on test slopes, and snowpit data did not reveal any signs of instabilities on NW-N-NE aspects in sheltered areas between 7700 ft. and 9300 ft. On more wind exposed test slopes near the summit of Powderhouse, some small cornices had started to form, and some wind loading was starting to occur. As of 1 pm, the wind loading had only amounted to 7-10 cm of new snow on wind loaded slopes and ski cuts and kicks did not trigger any shooting cracks on the wind loaded test slopes.  

Snowpit or crown profile photo or graph: 
Snowpack photos: 
Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
Yes
Cloud Cover: 
75% of the sky covered by clouds
Air temperature: 
Above Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Strong
Precipitation: 
Snow
Air temperature trend: 
Cooling
Wind Direction: 
Southwest
Accumulation rate: 
Less than 1 in. per hour
More detailed information about the weather: 

Snow above 8000 ft. with a mix of rain and snow between 8000 and 7500 ft. and rain below 7000 ft.