Mt. Rose Observations

Location Name: 
Far East Ridge Tamarack Peak
Region: 
Mount Rose Area
Date and time of observation: 
Wed, 02/15/2012 - 11:00
Location Map: 
United States
39° 18' 45.486" N, 119° 54' 15.9444" W
See map: Google Maps
US


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

4-6'' of new storm snow in this location overnight.  Exposed NW-NE aspects were scoured down to the old snow surface by the NW winds that switched over to NE winds today.  Wind slabs were still thin and soft and not siffened yet.  These wind slabs were sitting on a melt freeze crust with small facets above and below this MF crust.  We were getting sudden planar fractures on these facets on top of the melt freeze crust/new snow interface with the CT with repeatable results in the easy range.  The ECT and PST both showed no signs of propagation which matched with many informal observations throughout the day.  No signs of any avalanche activity in this area today. 

Photo #1:  Wind texture and scouring on a N aspect at 9000'

Photo#2:  9000' N aspect.  15cm storm snow, on top of M/F crust with facets above and below.  Then the rain crust below that with facets below the rain crust.  Faceting seems to be progressing above and below the M/F crust and was the reactive layer today.  This crust combo will be the layer to be watched into the future when we get additional load.

Snowpack photos: 
Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
Yes
Cloud Cover: 
75% of the sky covered by clouds
Air temperature: 
Below Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Light
Precipitation: 
Air temperature trend: 
Static
Wind Direction: 
North
Accumulation rate: 
None
More detailed information about the weather: 

-11c at 11am at 9000' and slightly warming throughout the day.  75% to 100% cloud cover with the sun occasionally peeking out.  Winds above 9500' were in the moderate to strong range moving snow.  There was no measurable snow accumulation today.  Tsurf -7, T20 -7.  HS 140cm in protected terrain @ 9000'.