Observations from Carson Pass

Location Name: 
Frog Lake/Elephant's Back
Region: 
Carson Pass Area
Date and time of observation: 
Fri, 03/15/2013 - 12:00
Location Map: 
United States
38° 41' 6.3888" N, 119° 58' 54.6996" W
See map: Google Maps
US


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

Thick, supportable melt freeze crust on all aspects. By mid afternoon, crust became breakable in the trees, but remained supportable on open slopes.

Pic: Subtle drainage runnels from several warm days.

Pit: Faceted layers gaining strength. The 3/6 facet layer is almost indistinguishable from neighboring layers. Facets near the deeper rain crust have strong ice to ice bonds and are 1f hard. The pencil hard layers are quite strong, making this pit a challenge to excavate.

Thin, high clouds began to clear mid-afternoon. Increasing afternoon winds limited surface warming and kept snow supportable.

Snowpit or crown profile photo or graph: 
Snowpack photos: 
Any other comments about the observation or links to outside pages that have more info on the observation: 

Mid elevation trailheads at Luther Pass, Hope Valley, and Red Lake are becoming thin. Still possible to stay on snow, but dirt patches are growing. Free water on the surface at Grass Lake, Red Lake, and Frog Lake.

Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
No
Cloud Cover: 
75% of the sky covered by clouds
Air temperature: 
Above Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Light
Precipitation: 
None
Air temperature trend: 
Static
Wind Direction: 
Southwest
Accumulation rate: 
None
More detailed information about the weather: