Observations from Andesite Peak

Location Name: 
Andesite Peak
Region: 
Donner Summit Area
Date and time of observation: 
Sun, 02/05/2017 - 12:00
Location Map: 
United States
39° 21' 0.2196" N, 120° 21' 53.8776" W
See map: Google Maps
US


Red Flags: 
Recent loading by new snow, wind, or rain
Observation made by: Guide at Tahoe Mountain School
Snowpit Observations
More detailed information about the snowpack: 

At the trailhead winds were calm.  Ski pen was 7cm and boot pen was 50cm.  The top 10cm of the snow pack was light and unconsolidated, supported by 35 cm of denser snow.  In above treeline terrain S aspects showed signs of scouring and we observed active wind loading from moderate SW winds. The snow surface on S aspects varied from wind packed to 5 to 20cm of wind blown powder. By 12:00 the south aspects in near treeline terrain started to show signs of wetting and snow was melting from the trees.  NE aspects near the ridges had wind packed powder and below the ridges held cold unconsolidated snow on top of denser supportable snow.   Winds and cloud cover were increasing through out the day.  By 3:00 a crust had formed on aspects that were exposed to sun earlier in the day.  We found no signs of instablity and the wind slabs that we did find were well bonded to the old snow. 

Snowpit or crown profile photo or graph: 
Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
Yes
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
More detailed information about the weather: