Surface hoar and faceting on Mt. Judah

Went for a hike on Mt. Judah today to look at snowdepths, surface conditions, and new snow faceting rates. Snow depths in this area after over 24 hours of settlement range from 5 to 12 inches, averaging 6 to 8 inches in most open wind protected areas. Wind drifts to 18 inches were noted near ridgetops, but did not extend more than 10 feet down slope. Open areas at and below treeline held 8 mm surface hoar. In wind exposed areas and above treeline, much of the surface hoar had been knocked over by previoius E winds. In other areas, the surface hoar was easily persisting. Very strong snow temperature gradients were measured in the snowpack, predicitive of the expected faceting of a shallow snowpack with below freezing air tempertures. The existing snowpack in this area is weak and not in good condition to handle a significant new snow load in it's current state.