Donner Summit Observations

Location Name: 
Mt. Judah Area
Region: 
Donner Summit Area
Date and time of observation: 
Tue, 02/15/2011 - 15:54
Location Map: 
United States
39° 18' 29.5884" N, 120° 19' 10.0668" W
See map: Google Maps
US


Red Flags: 
Recent loading by new snow, wind, or rain
Observation made by: Professional Observer
Snowpit Observations
More detailed information about the snowpack: 

Up to 1.5' of dense new snow in the most favored wind loaded locations.  Exposed areas to the wind are scoured to very firm snow conditions.  A couple instabilities within the new storm snow were showing consistent weaknesses with  ECT's and CT's-the most notable being just above the old snow/new snow interface.  See video, ECTP-20.  Cornices are building out and were very easy to kick off today.  Although, none of these cornice drops or ski cutting, etc. produced any slab activity.  There was some cracking in this wind loaded terrain but no shooting cracks noted.

Snowpack photos: 
Snowpit videos (tests, etc): 

donnersummit2011 2 15 002

Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
Yes
Cloud Cover: 
100% of the sky covered by clouds
Air temperature: 
Below Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Moderate
Precipitation: 
Snow
Air temperature trend: 
Warming
Wind Direction: 
South
Accumulation rate: 
Less than 1 in. per hour
More detailed information about the weather: 

Snow level around 6200' during the midday hours with the weather/snow event occuring just on the crest.  Very light snowfall throughout the day, S winds moderate to strong.