Wet snow on Andesite Ridge

Location Name: 
Andesite Ridge
Region: 
Donner Summit Area
Date and time of observation: 
Wed, 04/25/2012 - 11:00
Location Map: 
United States
39° 20' 59.532" N, 120° 21' 52.74" W
See map: Google Maps
US


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

Free water production from the melting snowpack has decreased in this area with water draining from the snowpack faster than it was being produced today. Most areas held no evidence of snow surface refreeze while a couple of small and isolated areas revealed a refreeze of the top 5 cm of the snow surface from last night. At 10am there was around 1 to 2 cm of wet snow on top of this crust in the isolated areas where it existed.

At 11:30am ski penetration was limited to 4 cm in areas with no evidence of an overnight refreeze. Ski cuts on steep NE and E aspects produced only small roller balls that broke apart before reaching 30 cm in diameter.

At the noted lat/long, a testpit at 8,000' on a NE aspect 30 degree slope at treeline revealed an isothermal snowpack over its full height of 240 cm. All snow layers were either wet grains or rounded polycrystals. Snowpit data collected in this area on March 10th showed that the PWL did not exist in this area.

Photo: Water draining from the snowpack at 10am in an area that is not a creek bed or other established part of the water table.

Snowpack photos: 
Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
Cloud Cover: 
100% of the sky covered by clouds
Air temperature: 
Above Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Light
Precipitation: 
Air temperature trend: 
Static
Wind Direction: 
Southwest
Accumulation rate: 
More detailed information about the weather: 

Significant lowering and thickening of cloud cover observed in this area between 9:30am and 11am. Very light rain started to fall at 11:20am.