2-4 inches of wet surface snow on Castle Peak

Location Name: 
Castle Peak
Region: 
Donner Summit Area
Date and time of observation: 
Sat, 04/16/2011 - 13:30
Location Map: 
United States
39° 21' 54.2772" N, 120° 21' 14.4072" W
See map: Google Maps
US


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

Less clouds, more sun, less wind, and warmer temperatures than expected resulted in more melting than expected on Castle Peak today. By 1:30 pm 3-6 inches of wet unconsolidated snow had formed on the SE-S-SW aspects up to 8800 ft in this area. On slopes steeper than 35 degrees small skier triggered roller balls up to 8 inches in diameter occurred.

On the more northerly aspects some patches of recent snow that had not fully transitioned to melt-freeze snow still remained in some wind-loaded areas. Skier triggered roller balls also occurred in these area.

Below the wet snow on all aspects a thick frozen melt-freeze crust still exists.

Photo: Small skier triggered roller balls on a ESE facing slope at 8400 ft.

Snowpack photos: 
Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
Cloud Cover: 
25% of the sky covered by clouds
Air temperature: 
Above Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Light
Precipitation: 
Air temperature trend: 
Warming
Wind Direction: 
Southwest
Accumulation rate: 
More detailed information about the weather: 

Cloud cover started slowly increasing around 1:30 pm.