Observations from Frog Lake Ridge

Location Name: 
Frog Lake Ridge
Region: 
Carson Pass Area
Date and time of observation: 
Sat, 12/31/2016 - 12:00
Location Map: 
United States
38° 41' 12.624" N, 119° 58' 59.664" W
See map: Google Maps
US


Red Flags: 
Obvious avalanche path
Terrain Trap
Observation made by: Professional Observer
Snowpit Observations
More detailed information about the snowpack: 

Profile: This was one of the areas with most well developed slab on top of 12/15 facets that I could find. Although this faceted layer itself is easy to find with mitt pits and shovel tilts, most locations observed held unconsolidated snow above these facets. On the ECT at this location, my shovel compressed the snow until it was in the faceted layer.  PST showed slightly more concerning results.

Pic 1: Surface hoar along normally wind exposed Frog Lake Ridge. Winds today were Light out of the E. Periods of freezing fog observed before mid day, so air was likely high humidity.

Pic 2: Larger surface hoar on wind sheltered terrain, on top of 10+cm of NSF. These two surface forms were observed throughout travel on NW, N, NE, and E slopes between Frog Lake Ridge and Red Vista Rd.

Pic 3: Surface hoar even on sunny NW aspects, where a thin MFcr was observed.

Snowpit or crown profile photo or graph: 
Snowpack photos: 
Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
No
Cloud Cover: 
25% of the sky covered by clouds
Air temperature: 
Below Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Light
Precipitation: 
None
Air temperature trend: 
Cooling
Wind Direction: 
East
Accumulation rate: 
None