Observations from Crater Lake

Location Name: 
Crater Lake
Region: 
Carson Pass Area
Date and time of observation: 
Sun, 01/21/2018 - 12:00
Location Map: 
United States
38° 43' 13.5876" N, 119° 58' 28.7436" W
See map: Google Maps
US


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

Picture: Large surface hoar laying down due to Moderate+ NW winds above Crater Lake. SH observed on all aspects, and remained standing in wind sheltered areas and below treeline.

Above Crater Lake in test pits on 3 different slopes, all at +/- 8700ft and from N to NE aspects, a Near Crust Facet layer was observed just below the surface crust most recently buried. Although no slab was observed above this layer in the area today, CT results were Sudden Planar on 6 of 6 tests. The deeper faceted layer was observed from 55cm to 70cm from the surface, and CT results were Sudden Collapse on 6 of 6 tests. The deeper layer took Hard taps to fracture, including one CT30.  The slab above this layer had dense snow including several crusts.

Snowpack photos: 
Any other comments about the observation or links to outside pages that have more info on the observation: 

Some people are still driving quite high on the Crater Lake access road, so be careful not to block the road when parking.

Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
Yes
Cloud Cover: 
100% of the sky covered by clouds
Air temperature: 
Below Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Moderate
Precipitation: 
Snow
Air temperature trend: 
Cooling
Wind Direction: 
Northwest
Accumulation rate: 
None
More detailed information about the weather: 

Thin, high clouds with occasional light snow showers observed shortly after noon. I departed before observing any accumulation.