Rain and Wet Snow on Lincoln Ridge

Location Name: 
Lincoln Ridge
Region: 
Yuba Pass Area
Date and time of observation: 
Fri, 01/16/2015 - 12:30
Location Map: 
United States
39° 35' 27.06" N, 120° 29' 22.56" W
See map: Google Maps
US


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

Light rain falling in this area created wet soft snow on the  surface on all aspects up to at least 7700ft. On the northerly aspects about 1 inch of soft wet snow existed above a supportable snowpack. The weak layer that had been forming near the previous rain crust seems to be gaining strength. Tests targeting this layer revealed no signs of instability. Some small pinwheels up to 12 inches in diameter did occur on steep N-NE facing test slopes due to the rain wetted snow.

Photo 1: ECTN 24 on a NE aspect @ 7680 ft. targeting the layer below the buried rain crust.  In other nearby areas test results were as follows PST 93/100 END and ECTN 23 on that same layer.

Photo 2: "Corn" snow formed by the rain softening some of the firm crusts on a N aspect @ 7200 ft.

Photo 3: One of the small skier triggered pinwheels on a N aspect @ 7700 ft.

Snowpack photos: 
Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
No
Cloud Cover: 
100% of the sky covered by clouds
Air temperature: 
Above Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Moderate
Precipitation: 
Rain
Air temperature trend: 
Static
Wind Direction: 
Southwest
Accumulation rate: 
Less than 1 in. per hour
More detailed information about the weather: 

Light rain occured in this area all day.