Echo Lake area

Location Name: 
Becker Ridge
Region: 
Echo Summit Area
Date and time of observation: 
Sun, 12/13/2015 - 11:00
Location Map: 
United States
38° 49' 56.172" N, 120° 3' 1.35" W
See map: Google Maps
US


Red Flags: 
Recent loading by new snow, wind, or rain
Terrain Trap
Observation made by: Professional Observer
Snowpit Observations
More detailed information about the snowpack: 

Touring above Echo Lake today, the stout but breakable crust on top of the recent new snow was the biggest surprise. Numerous hasty pits failed to find Surface Hoar under this crust. The crust was found on all aspects and elevations up to 8000 (the highest point of our tour) from our start at 7400 feet. From 8am to 3pm snow totals were 9 cms in the Echo Lake SnoPark.

Basal snow grains in this area were fist hard and uncohesive but appeared to have been wet previously. We had a RB6 WB that collapsed suddenly on the basal grains. The block didn't move downslope (the 22 degree slope was fairly rough) but the drop was noticeable to all observers and the tester. 

Photo 1: Icicles make better photos than crusts. The icicles hanging from the trees appeared to be created by the same small rain (mist?) event that created the crusts on the snow. Snow below crusts remained wintery and didn't appear to be altered much by the weather that created the crust. 

Photo 2: Echo Lake Snopark 8am - 3pm snow totals as measured on the hood of my truck at just under 9 cms. 

 

 

Snowpack photos: 
Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
Air temperature: 
Wind Speed: 
Precipitation: 
Air temperature trend: 
Wind Direction: 
Accumulation rate: 
More detailed information about the weather: