Wet Snow and Corn Snow on Jakes Peak

Location Name: 
Jakes Peak - South Side
Region: 
West Shore Area
Date and time of observation: 
Tue, 03/01/2016 - 12:45
Location Map: 
United States
38° 57' 33.156" N, 120° 7' 13.8" W
See map: Google Maps
US


Red Flags: 
Rapid warming
Obvious avalanche path
Terrain Trap
Observation made by: Forecaster
Snowpit Observations
More detailed information about the snowpack: 

Wet snow existed on all aspects up to 8500 ft. as of 11 am. On the NE and E aspects this wet snow had not transitioned to corn snow and small human triggered loose wet roller balls and pinwheels occurred on steep slopes. This small loose wet instabilities did not grow to more than 18 to 24 inches in size. On the SE-S-SW aspects 3 to 6 inches of soft corn snow existed above a supportable melt freeze crust above 7600 ft. with shin deep and deeper unsupportable wet snow on the lower angle slopes below 7600 ft. Above 8500 ft. on the NE and N aspect the snowpack became drier and some areas of cold dry snow still existed. No signs of instability were found other than the loose wet surface instabilities.

Photo 1: Small human triggered pinwheels and roller balls on an ENE aspect at 8200 ft. 

Photo 2: 3 in. of corn snow on top of a supportable melt-freeze crust on a S aspect at 8400 ft. at 1 pm.

Photo 3: Boot top deep wet snow on a S aspect at 7400 ft. at 11:30 am.

Snowpit or crown profile photo or graph: 
Snowpack photos: 
Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
No
Cloud Cover: 
25% of the sky covered by clouds
Air temperature: 
Above Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Moderate
Precipitation: 
None
Air temperature trend: 
Warming
Wind Direction: 
Southwest
Accumulation rate: 
None