Wet Snow and Facets on Mt. Judah

Location Name: 
Mt. Judah
Region: 
Donner Summit Area
Date and time of observation: 
Thu, 01/04/2018 - 13:00
Location Map: 
United States
39° 18' 22.824" N, 120° 19' 0.192" W
See map: Google Maps
US


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

1 to 2 inches of wet snow existed on the snow surface above 7500 ft. in this area today. In areas where loose weak snow existed on the surface prior to last night's storm, this loose weak snow was now wet and easily clumped together. In areas where a small slab layer existed above the layer of loose weak snow, the storm snow and the slab layer were moist but the weak layer remained loose. It was just beginning to clump together when squeezed but snowpit tests targetting this persistent weak layer still yielded unstable results (ECTP's and CTE's see snowpit for more details). 

Ski cuts on some tests slopes did trigger small loose wet instabilities.

Photo 1: ECTP in an area where the loose weak snow had a small slab on top of it prior to last night's storm.

Photo 2: Small loose wet roller balls on a N facing slope at 8000 ft. 

Snowpit or crown profile photo or graph: 
Snowpack photos: 
Weather Observations
Cloud Cover: 
75% of the sky covered by clouds
Air temperature: 
Above Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Light
Air temperature trend: 
Static
Wind Direction: 
South