Soft Snow and Small Pinwheels on Rubicon

Location Name: 
Rubicon Peak
Region: 
West Shore Area
Date and time of observation: 
Tue, 03/10/2015 - 12:00
Location Map: 
United States
38° 59' 28.608" N, 120° 8' 1.86" W
See map: Google Maps
US


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

Soft cold snow still existed on N facing aspects above 7900 ft. on Rubicon Peak this morning. By the afternoon some small skier triggered roller balls and pinwheels did start to occur on the N aspects. The pinwheels remained less than 8-10 inches in diameter. Some areas on the north aspects started to become wet and sticky by 1:30 pm. Melt freeze conditions existed on the E aspects and wet sticky snow formed on these aspects before noon. Breakable sun crusts existed on the higher elevation E aspects and most of the ENE and some of the NE aspects. Snowpit data, ski cuts, and general observations did not reveal any signs of instabilities.

Photo: Small pinwheels on a N aspect @ 8600 ft. @ around 1 pm.

Snowpit or crown profile photo or graph: 
Snowpack photos: 
Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
Cloud Cover: 
75% of the sky covered by clouds
Air temperature: 
Above Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Calm
Precipitation: 
Air temperature trend: 
Warming
Wind Direction: 
Accumulation rate: 
More detailed information about the weather: 

Clear skies in the morning have way to high overcast skies by noon.