Wet and windy at Blue Lakes

Raining at the Hope Valley SNO-PARK when we arrived shortly after 9am. On our ride along Blue Lakes Rd, a mix of rain and snow was encountered until 8000ft, where it became all snow. By 10am, sky became broken and no precip was encountered again until 1130. Rapidly deteriorating visibility and wet gear prompted an early return to the trucks by 1pm, where it was snowing instead of raining.

About 4-6" of new, wet snow was observed. Several informal pits showed the rain had soaked an additional 4-6" below this. Shovel tilts and hand shears were clean and planar at the interface between 8-12" of wet snow at the surface, and dry snow below. I couldn't find intact surface hoar, but visibility was poor. HS probed between 110 and 160cm. Below treeline south of Tamarack Lake, and near treeline at pindrop, I cut across inconsequential features like small steep convexities and creek banks, without results. Near and below treeline, the surface snow was likely too wet for effective wind transport and slab development. Wind loading was evident near treeline as we pushed close to above treeline, and significant along ridgetops in the distance. An ECT on a mildly windloaded feature near the pindrop did not indicate propagation, and this was consistent with slope cuts and cutting progressively higher on the slopes. However, we avoided the most wind loaded terrain by very wide margins today.

Pic 1: Broken skies shortly after 11am allowed views of dramatic wind loading in the distance. 

Pic 2: Not long after pic 1 was taken, visibility became reduced to our immediate surroundings. This location previously had a clear view across the valley similar to pic 1.