Observations from Mt. Lola/Upper Cold Stream

Location Name: 
Mt. Lola/Upper Cold Stream
Region: 
Independence Lake Area
Date and time of observation: 
Thu, 02/01/2018 - 00:00
Location Map: 
United States
39° 26' 42.4428" N, 120° 20' 29.5044" W
See map: Google Maps
US


Red Flags: 
Rapid warming
Observation made by: Forecaster
Snowpit Observations
More detailed information about the snowpack: 

Superficial wet surface snow observed on shaded NW aspects up to around 8,400'. Wet surface snow was noted in all sun exposed areas up to the highpoint of travel today at 8,780'. On E and SE aspects of full sun at ~8,700 roller balls were easy to human trigger but only the top 1 inch of the snow surface was wet. This was conducive to roller ball activity, but not to actual loose wet avalanches.

A test pit dug at the noted lat/long (NW aspect, 8,400', below treeline terrain) identified three different layers of rounding facets within the top 3 feet of the snowpack. None of these layers showed signs of problematic stability in snowpit tests. HS at the test pit was 156 cm (~5 ft). Layers of rounding facets at heights of 75-85 cm, 100-102 cm, and 110-111 cm were tested. PST results were 90/100 end @ 80 cm, 52/100 end @ 101 cm, and 92/100 end at 110.5 cm. The layer at 75-85 cm was the most well developed, with classification of 4F hard rounding facets at 1 mm in size.

No informal signs of persistent slab or wet snow instability were observed on northerly aspects. The human triggered roller balls in the photos were the extent of wet snow instability observed on solar aspects.

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

Air temperatures were well above freezing at all elevations traveled.