New near crust facet layer on Hidden Peak

Location Name: 
Hidden Peak
Region: 
West Shore Area
Date and time of observation: 
Wed, 03/28/2012 - 12:25
Location Map: 
United States
38° 58' 31.872" N, 120° 7' 28.704" W
See map: Google Maps
US


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

No evidence of storm snow instability in this area. Ski cuts and skier loading of wind loaded test slopes along the ridgetop produced no obvious clues of instability. A newly formed layer of very early stage faceted crystals was observed just above and below the thin rain crust that was buried on March 16. This layer was difficult to test with the ECT but propagated easily in the PST (see video).

At 1:30pm, wet snow existed below 6,800' that caused roller balls to 2 feet in diameter in response to spray from ski turns. Small pockets of this wet snow sliding on the thick melt freeze crust 6 inches below the snow surface could be felt on ski turns, but sub 30 degree slope angle terrain was not steep enough for avalanche activity.

Snowpit or crown profile photo or graph: 
Snowpit videos (tests, etc): 

20120328 Hidden Peak PST 35/100 end.MOV

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: 
Southwest
Accumulation rate: 
More detailed information about the weather: 

Snowfall rate of 1 inch per hour for much of the morning.