Snow Showers on Incline Lake Peak

Location Name: 
Incline Lake Peak
Region: 
Mount Rose Area
Date and time of observation: 
Fri, 02/27/2015 - 10:30
Location Map: 
United States
39° 17' 55.572" N, 119° 56' 11.076" W
See map: Google Maps
US


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

Incline Lake Peak has seen heavy skier traffic since the last snow fall and the snow surface mainly consisted of firm crusts and old ski tracks. Some areas of a thin breakable melt-freeze crust with soft weak surface snow below it did exist in untracked areas on N-NE aspects between 8400 ft. and 9500 ft. In these areas the soft weak snow rested on top of a firm crust. This setup represents a potential weak layer/bed surface combination that could be problematic if tonight's snow forms slabs on top of it. A snow shower that occurred between 10:15 am and 11:00 am deposited about .5-.75 inches of new snow on top of the snow surface. Ski cuts on steep test slopes with smooth surface underneath this meager amount of new snow did cause the new snow to sluff off of the old crusts.

Snowpit: This pit represents the small areas where soft near surface facets existed on N-NE aspects between 8400 ft. and the summit of Incline Lake Peak @ ~9500ft.

Snowpit or crown profile photo or graph: 
Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
Yes
Cloud Cover: 
75% of the sky covered by clouds
Air temperature: 
Below Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Moderate
Precipitation: 
Snow
Air temperature trend: 
Cooling
Wind Direction: 
West
Accumulation rate: 
Less than 1 in. per hour
More detailed information about the weather: 

Snow showers started in this area with light snow around 10 am. A more intense snow shower occurred between 10:15 and 11:00 am and deposited about .5 - .75 in. of new snow (mostly graupel) on the peak. Looking across Lake Tahoe snow showers appeared to be localized over small areas this morning.