Corn snow on Mt. Judah

Location Name: 
Mt. Judah
Region: 
Donner Summit Area
Date and time of observation: 
Fri, 12/07/2012 - 12:20
Location Map: 
United States
39° 17' 49.8696" N, 120° 18' 53.6148" W
See map: Google Maps
US


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

At 12:15pm, 1 to 2 inches of corn snow had formed on the surface below 8,200' in open sun exposed areas on the south side of Mt. Judah. The most significant snow surface melting was observed on S aspects with much more minor snow surface melting on SE and SW aspects.The snowpack was very supportable with little to no melting in shaded areas on S aspects. Boot penetration did not exceed 2 inches in any areas tested up to 1:45pm. No evidence of wet snow instability was observed. Surface crust in this area was 4 to 5 inches thick on all aspects and did not fully melt. The snow surface on all W-NW-N-NE-E aspects remained frozen and proved difficult to travel without crampons in many areas.

Photo: North half of the East Face of Mt. Judah. Old small wet slab avalanches triggered by cornice fall that likely occurred on Dec 2nd. Debris covered with snow deposited during the mid morning and afternoon hours of Dec 2nd.

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

Winds very limited to ridgetop locations.