Wet snow obs on Tamarack Peak

Location Name: 
Tamarack Peak
Region: 
Mount Rose Area
Date and time of observation: 
Sat, 04/21/2012 - 10:00
Location Map: 
United States
39° 19' 1.6824" N, 119° 55' 3.576" W
See map: Google Maps
US


Red Flags: 
Rapid warming
Obvious avalanche path
Observation made by: Forecaster
Snowpit Observations
More detailed information about the snowpack: 

Radiational cooling created snow surface refreeze of the top 15cm of the snowpack last night with a minimum air temperature from the nearby Slide Mt. remote sensor of 41 deg F.

At 10am, NE aspects remained supportable between 9,200' and 9,900' with 2 to 4 cm of wet snow on the surface over supportable melt freeze crust. At the same time on nearby S aspects, the top 45 cm of the snowpack was wet with full melt of the overnight refreeze and unsupportable conditions. At 11 am on E aspects at 9,700', last night's refreeze was almost fully melted with ski cuts producing roller balls to 60cm in diameter on test slopes steeper than 35 degrees. At 11:30am areas below 9,000' were unsupportable on all aspects in all but the most shaded areas.

Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
No
Cloud Cover: 
Clear
Air temperature: 
Above Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Light
Precipitation: 
Air temperature trend: 
Warming
Wind Direction: 
Southwest
Accumulation rate: 
More detailed information about the weather: 

No afternoon cloud build up present at noon.