Corn and Crusts on Jakes Peak

Location Name: 
Jakes Peak
Region: 
West Shore Area
Date and time of observation: 
Sun, 02/03/2013 - 15:00
Location Map: 
United States
38° 57' 40.3164" N, 120° 7' 22.4796" W
See map: Google Maps
US


Red Flags: 
Obvious avalanche path
Terrain Trap
Observation made by: Forecaster
Snowpit Observations
More detailed information about the snowpack: 

3-5 inches of soft corn snow formed on the SE-S-SW aspects of Jakes today. This corn snow rested on top of a thick supportable melt-freeze crust. Once the sun left these aspects in the afternoon, the snow surface refroze within 30 minutes. Ski cuts performed at the peak of the warming today on steep sun exposed S facing test slopes did not produce any wet snow instabilities between 6800 and 9100 ft.

On the more easterly and northerly aspects, a variable rain crust existed on the snow surface. This rain crust would support a skier, but not people walking in boots. In some places a dusting of soft snow remains on top of the rain crust. In other spots this soft snow has been scoured away. Below the crust a layer of softer weaker snow exists (see snowpit - GPS coordinates of this observation mark the snowpit location). Observations on these aspects also did not reveal any signs of instabilities today.

Photo: 3-4 inches of soft corn snow on a S aspect at about 8200 ft.

 

Snowpit or crown profile photo or graph: 
Snowpack photos: 
Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
Cloud Cover: 
Clear
Air temperature: 
Above Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Calm
Precipitation: 
Air temperature trend: 
Static
Wind Direction: 
Accumulation rate: 
More detailed information about the weather: