Observations from Round Top

Location Name: 
Round Top
Region: 
Carson Pass Area
Date and time of observation: 
Thu, 01/31/2013 - 11:00
Location Map: 
United States
38° 39' 51.606" N, 120° 0' 21.3732" W
See map: Google Maps
US


Red Flags: 
Rapid warming
Obvious avalanche path
Observation made by: Professional Observer
Snowpit Observations
More detailed information about the snowpack: 

Pic 1: Excellent surface hoar formation conditions, though no surface hoar was observed surviving mid afternoon heat.

Pic 2: Slopes exposed to recent E winds had sastrugi or previous rain crust at the surface.

Pic 3 and video: 2x ECTP12 at the provided lat/long. Impressively clean shear quality - my 2nd ECT produced better visual results, but I wasn't filming it. If this entire terrain feature held 15-20cm of wind slab and failed, it would still not produce a D2 avalanche. However, this slab and weak layer combo may warrant tracking in anticipation of additional loading. Note: in narration I say 2nd hard tap when I meant 2nd moderate tap.

Pic 4: By 1pm on S aspects, the only evidence of loose wet instabilities was from >24 hours ago. S aspects held ~5cm of loose corn snow on top of previous rain crust, which was only breakable near heat sinks like rocks and bushes.

Snowpack photos: 
Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
No
Cloud Cover: 
Clear
Air temperature: 
Above Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Light
Precipitation: 
None
Air temperature trend: 
Static
Wind Direction: 
East
Accumulation rate: 
More detailed information about the weather: