Observations from Silver Lake

Location Name: 
Squaw Ridge
Region: 
Carson Pass Area
Date and time of observation: 
Tue, 04/04/2017 - 00:00
Location Map: 
United States
38° 37' 46.0704" N, 120° 3' 50.2488" W
See map: Google Maps
US


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

Signs of a good overnight refreeze observed in this area today. Sunny aspects near 8000ft began to soften shortly after 10am. Slopes near 9000ft along Squaw Ridge were exposed to Light NW winds and had a brief window of softening between 12 and 2pm, then began to refreeze except on wind sheltered slopes. Locking up track on steep sunny descents resulted in Loose Wet instabilities that did not fan out to entrain additional snow. Snowmobile cuts of steep sunny slopes did not produce signs of Loose Wet instabilities.

Pic 1: Huge holes opening up in creeks made linking drainages difficult. Several snow bridges appeared to have very recently collapsed, making stream crossings on intact snow bridges spooky.

Pic 2: Dirt on snow from previous winds affecting melt rates. Dirty snow and wind sheltered slopes were riding significantly better than the firmer snow reflecting sunlight and esposed to winds.

Snowpack photos: 
Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
No
Cloud Cover: 
25% of the sky covered by clouds
Air temperature: 
Above Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Light
Precipitation: 
None
Air temperature trend: 
Static
Wind Direction: 
Northwest
Accumulation rate: 
None
More detailed information about the weather: 

Variable cloud cover kept snow surfaces from becoming too wet. Ski and track pen remained less than 6" today except on aggressive turns.