Blowing Snow on the West Shore

Strong to gale force SW winds were transporting available snow.  Large plumes of snow could be seen blowing off of Freel Peak on the south shore of Lake Tahoe on the drive down.  Below treeline, swirling winds were coming from all different directions including upslope.  Light snow (S1) started around noon and increased at our departure along with the winds.  Snowpack tests targeting the 2/14 rain crust found no signs of instabilities-see attached test pit.  The graupel layer above the rain crust is 1cm thick with the graupel being 2-3mm in size.   Snow surface conditions were variable.