Corn, Crusts, and Dirt on Judah

Location Name: 
Mt. Judah
Region: 
Donner Summit Area
Date and time of observation: 
Sat, 03/28/2015 - 13:00
Location Map: 
United States
39° 18' 9.9468" N, 120° 19' 2.3124" W
US


Red Flags: 
Obvious avalanche path

Observation made by: Forecaster
Snowpit Observations
More detailed information about the snowpack: 

As with other areas around the forecast region, the snow continues to melt quickly in the Mt. Judah area. E-NE-N-NW aspects still have snow coverage above 7500 ft. in most places, but some areas of bare ground are beginning to melt out even on these aspects. The SE-S-SW-W aspects are completely bare in most places with only a few patches of isolated snow remaining. 3-4 inches of soft corn snow existed on the E aspects with slightly less wet snow on the sunny NE aspects. Wherever wet snow did form it rested on top of a supportable melt-freeze layer. Shaded N aspects still held a frozen melt-freeze crust on the surface this afternoon. Some minor skier triggered sluffs and roller balls did occur on an E aspect at 8200 ft. around 12:30 pm. This inconsequential loose wet snow was the only sign of instability I saw in my tour.

Photo 1: East aspect of Mt. Judah. Note the rocks dirt melting out on the lower half of the slope.

Photo 2: Small skier triggered loose wet snow sluff at 8200 ft. on an east aspect.

Photo 3: Looking at the south facing slopes on Castle Peak.

Snowpack photos: 
Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
No
Cloud Cover: 
Clear
Air temperature: 
Above Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Light
Precipitation: 
Air temperature trend: 
Warming
Wind Direction: 
Northeast
Accumulation rate: 
More detailed information about the weather: