Snow conditions on Mt. Judah

Location Name: 
Mt. Judah
Region: 
Donner Summit Area
Date and time of observation: 
Mon, 02/28/2011 - 13:30
Location Map: 
United States
39° 17' 44.5776" N, 120° 18' 51.8832" W
See map: Google Maps
US


Red Flags: 
Recent loading by new snow, wind, or rain
Obvious avalanche path
Terrain Trap
Observation made by: Forecaster
Snowpit Observations
More detailed information about the snowpack: 

The snow surface remained frozen on SE-S-SW aspects down to 7200 ft. Ski cuts and stability tests on steep sun-exposed slopes produced no signs of warming instabilities in this area. A thin (.5-1 in.) thick breakable sun crust existed on these aspects up to 8000 ft. Below this frozen sun crust, soft dry snow existed. The sun crust that served as a bed surface for the slide on Ralston Peak yesterday did not exist in this area.

On the NE-N-NW aspects soft cold snow remained on the snow surface. Hand pits and stability tests showed continued strengthening in the upper layers of the snowpack.

 

Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
Yes
Cloud Cover: 
25% of the sky covered by clouds
Air temperature: 
Below Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Strong
Precipitation: 
Air temperature trend: 
Cooling
Wind Direction: 
Southwest
Accumulation rate: 
More detailed information about the weather: 

Near the ridgelines the strong southwest wind were transporting some snow, but they had not formed any significant wind slabs on the leeward slopes as of 2 pm.