Observations from Flagpole

Location Name: 
Punisher Saddle
Region: 
Echo Summit Area
Date and time of observation: 
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 11:00
Location Map: 
United States
38° 50' 25.836" N, 120° 3' 1.4292" W
See map: Google Maps
US


Red Flags: 
Obvious avalanche path
Observation made by: Professional Observer
Snowpit Observations
More detailed information about the snowpack: 

Profile: Very "right-side-up" snowpack with cold, loose snow remaining on the surface. 3 recent, very shallow crowns were observed on a similar elevation and aspect on Becker Peak. The debris under these crowns appeared more Loose Dry, so slabs must have been quite soft, which is consistent with today's surface snow. Estimated to have occurred Monday night/early Tues morning. Most visible steep features on Flagpole and Becker showed signs of similar recent activity; subtle crowns, but more characteristics of Loose Dry than Storm Slab or Wind Slab.

Pic 1: Winds remained very light out of the NE and I didn't see any signs of current wind transport, even though surface snow is light and available for transport.

Pic 2: I did find some previous wind loading that produced cracking, though little propagation.

Some very early stage NSF observed on all but the sunniest slopes.

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: 
Below Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Light
Air temperature trend: 
Static
Wind Direction: 
Northeast
More detailed information about the weather: 

Sky cover began as Scattered in the morning, transitioned to Broken with spring-like dark cumulus clouds by late morning, and returned to Scattered by my 1pm departure.