Wind Scouring and Soft Snow on Relay Peak

Location Name: 
Relay Peak
Region: 
Mount Rose Area
Date and time of observation: 
Mon, 12/19/2016 - 12:00
Location Map: 
United States
39° 19' 19.2468" N, 119° 56' 47.1624" W
See map: Google Maps
US


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

In sheltered areas on and around Relay Peak 10 to 12 inches of soft unconsolidated snow existed above a thin rain crust. In some areas, a softer layer of snow existed just above the thin rain crust with slightly more dense snow above the softer snow. One snowpit test at the coordinates attached to this observation indicated that this layer could possibly serve as a weak layer. Other ski cuts and general observations did not reveal signs of instabilities. On more exposed near and above treeline slopes a mix of wind scoured, wind packed, and soft snow existed. Some areas had hollow sounding wind slabs sitting above softer snow on near and above treeline slopes. Ski cuts on a test slope @ ~ 39.319219, -119.952979 where a thin wind pack slab existed only produced localized cracks that did not propagate away from the ends of my skis. We observed several older avalanches in this area (more info here).

Photo: Wind scoured snow on an E aspect at 9800 ft. 

Snowpack photos: 
Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
No
Cloud Cover: 
25% 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: 

Some thin high clouds in the afternoon.