Snowpack Observations on Castle Peak

Location Name: 
Castle Peak
Region: 
Donner Summit Area
Date and time of observation: 
Wed, 12/18/2013 - 14:05
Location Map: 
United States
39° 21' 54.4212" N, 120° 21' 29.8044" W
See map: Google Maps
US


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

A well consolidated layer of snow rests on top of a thin melt freeze crust above the weak sugary facets on the NW and N aspects in the Castle Peak area. On the NW aspects no whumpfing or collapsing occurred in the areas I traveled through today. Snowpit data still indicated that the sugary snow grains that comprise the the Dec. 7th facets remain weak, and that they are easy to break. However, the fractures resulting from those breaks did not travel very far. This data represents the first instance of a day without significant obvious signs of instability since 12/7. I am not willing to put too much faith in this data due to the overwhelming observations pointing towards instability.

On the exposed southerly aspects and on the above treeline northerly aspects very little snow exists.

Snowpit or crown profile photo or graph: 
Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
No
Cloud Cover: 
75% of the sky covered by clouds
Air temperature: 
Above Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Moderate
Precipitation: 
None
Air temperature trend: 
Cooling
Wind Direction: 
Southwest
Accumulation rate: 
None
More detailed information about the weather: