Dust on crust and small wind slabs on Carson Pass

Location Name: 
Elephants Back
Region: 
Carson Pass Area
Date and time of observation: 
Mon, 04/08/2013 - 12:00
Location Map: 
United States
38° 41' 1.6836" N, 119° 58' 56.7084" W
See map: Google Maps
US


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

Some small wind slabs up to 1 ft. deep existed on SE aspects near the exposed ridgelines. The weight of a skier on tests slopes where these wind slabs existed did cause cracking and small test slope failures. These slabs quickly diminished in size as the distance from the ridgeline increased. The largest of these slabs extended about 15 ft from the exposed Elephant's Back ridgeline. It tapered down to only 3-4 inhces thick by its end. Strong NE winds continued to transport snow and scour windward slopes through out the day. On the exposed N-NE aspects the NE winds had scoured the snow surface back to a frozen icy crust. On the more sheltered N-NE aspects in this area, ski cuts caused ski width wide sluffs that only involved the new 2-4 inches of snow sliding down the icy crusts below it.

Photos 1 and 2: Skier triggered shooting cracks on a small SE facing test slope at the noted coordinates.

Photo 3: Loose snow sluffs on a steep and sheltered NE aspects at about 8800 ft.

Snowpack photos: 
Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
Yes
Cloud Cover: 
100% of the sky covered by clouds
Air temperature: 
Below Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Strong
Precipitation: 
Snow
Air temperature trend: 
Cooling
Wind Direction: 
Northeast
Accumulation rate: 
Less than 1 in. per hour