Rain Crusts and Wind on Tamarack Peak

Location Name: 
East Ridge Tamarack Peak
Region: 
Mount Rose Area
Date and time of observation: 
Fri, 12/09/2016 - 12:00
Location Map: 
United States
39° 18' 50.364" N, 119° 54' 56.556" W
See map: Google Maps
US


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

At some point late Thursday or overnight it had rained up to at least 9600' on the East Side of Tamarack Peak.  A thin surface rain crust was present with up to an inch of new snow in some areas on top as things cooled off and turned to snow.  This rain crust was not supportable and was more noticeable in open terrain than treed areas.  Due to the rain on snow, there was no blowing snow observed at this elevation.  Looking for evidence of wind slabs along the ridge revealed no cracking or any signs of wind slab instabilities.

Observations were done next to a snowpit from 12/8 to look at changes to the snowpack.  The facets did show some clumping together and were not as loose as seen on 12/8.  All snowpack tests showed that propagation was not likely on the buried facet layer near the ground.  This snowpit was at 9460' where warm conditions and some rain had occurred.  No other signs of instabilities were observed throughout area.

Photo#1:  Thin surface rain crust throughout area up to around 9600'.

Photo#2:  East Ridge of Tamarack Peak. 

Snowpit or crown profile photo or graph: 
Snowpack photos: 
Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
No
Cloud Cover: 
75% of the sky covered by clouds
Air temperature: 
Above Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Strong
Precipitation: 
None
Air temperature trend: 
Static
Wind Direction: 
Southwest