Strong Winds at Meiss

Location Name: 
Meiss Headwaters
Region: 
Carson Pass Area
Date and time of observation: 
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 12:00
Location Map: 
United States
38° 42' 44.3556" N, 120° 0' 13.4532" W
See map: Google Maps
US


Red Flags: 
Whumphing noises, shooting cracks, or collapsing
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: I performed several ECTs on different small wind loaded features - generally W aspects. All of them propagated on easy taps, and all on a thin layer of very small facets within the wind slab.  These must have been windblown into the new snow sometime during the storm.  In this picture, the new/old interface is 5cm below the failure on facets.  

Pic 2: The only place I could find new snow on top of well developed facets, there wasn't enough slab to be of concern. This was near treeline on a slope sheltered from the wind.

Pic 3: Most wind deposited features in this area were very small and didn't have enough volume of wind slab to be of concern. This is an exception (location of pin drop on map).

Pic 4: Elephant's Back getting scoured. The E/NE aspects around Meiss were thoroughly scoured back to the crust.

Snowpit or crown profile photo or graph: 
Snowpack photos: 
Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
Yes
Cloud Cover: 
Clear
Air temperature: 
Below Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Strong
Precipitation: 
None
Air temperature trend: 
Cooling
Wind Direction: 
East
Accumulation rate: 
None
More detailed information about the weather: