Wet Snow on Castle Peak

Location Name: 
Castle Peak
Region: 
Donner Summit Area
Date and time of observation: 
Sun, 04/06/2014 - 14:30
Location Map: 
United States
39° 21' 39.708" N, 120° 21' 46.6956" W
See map: Google Maps
US


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

Heavy, wet, unconsolidated, and sticky snow existed on all aspects up to 8600 ft. on Castle Peak. On the SE-S-SW aspects some loose wet snow point releases occurred near cliffs. On some of the shaded upper elevation north facing slopes some areas of cold soft snow still existed.

Photo 1: Runnels on an east facing meadow at 7600 ft indicating free water production and drainage.

Photo 2: A small steep SSE facing test slope at 8000 ft. A ski kick knocked a small piece of cornice off onto the steep part of the test slope where it caused the upper 10 to 15 inches of wet snow to sluff a very short distance into the lower angle part of the test slope. Some small pinwheels also were triggered. The coordinates attached to this observation mark this photo's location. Other parties reported pinwheels up to 4 ft in diameter on lower elevation sun exposed slopes.

Photo 3: A large (refrigerator sized) cornice piece that broke away after 2 ski kicks. Its impact onto a wind loaded NNE facing test slope did not trigger any cracking or other signs of instability. This cornice drop was located at 39.365276, -120.358121

Snowpack photos: 
Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
No
Cloud Cover: 
Clear
Air temperature: 
Above Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Calm
Precipitation: 
Air temperature trend: 
Warming
Wind Direction: 
Accumulation rate: 
More detailed information about the weather: 

Light variable winds even on the summit of Castle this afternoon.