Minimal new snow at Carson Pass

Location Name: 
Meiss
Region: 
Carson Pass Area
Date and time of observation: 
Sun, 12/03/2017 - 12:00
Location Map: 
United States
38° 42' 40.7988" N, 120° 0' 42.0372" W
See map: Google Maps
US


Red Flags: 
Recent loading by new snow, wind, or rain
Obvious avalanche path
Terrain Trap
Observation made by: Professional Observer
Snowpit Observations
More detailed information about the snowpack: 

Pic 1: A few inches of new snow on top of the previous surface (either facets or rain crust). New snow was rimed PP and/or graupel., and redistributed by W winds.

Pic 2: Very few features had enough new snow on top of old facets to promote fracture propagation.  I could get cracks to propagate 1 meter, but nothing longer.  Mitt pits showed easy shears on the old facets, but I couldn't find enough wind deposited new snow for formal column tests.

Pic 3: Typically one of the most wind loaded features in this area, but today there was less than 6" of discontinuous, windblown snow here.

Snowpack photos: 
Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
Yes
Cloud Cover: 
25% of the sky covered by clouds
Air temperature: 
Below Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Moderate
Precipitation: 
None
Air temperature trend: 
Cooling
Wind Direction: 
West
Accumulation rate: 
None