Snowpits and observations from Carpenter Ridge

Location Name: 
Carpenter Ridge
Region: 
Independence Lake Area
Date and time of observation: 
Mon, 02/11/2013 - 11:30
Location Map: 
United States
39° 24' 48.06" N, 120° 19' 2.856" W
See map: Google Maps
US


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

Two snowpits were dug in this area, one on the N side of the ridge and the other on the S side of the ridge. The N side pit was at lat/long noted on the pit profile and the S side pit was at the lat/long attached to this observation. Strong NE winds last night scoured areas at and above treeline and created stable wind slabs on SE-S-SW aspects in this area.

Photo: 3 x ECTN-23 result on newly formed wind slab. S aspect at 8,690' wind loaded by NE winds last night. Wind slab was 25 cm thick with P hard slab on top of 1F hard lower density storm snow layer. No cracking observed while traveling over low angle wind slabs in lee areas along and just below the ridgetop.

Pit profile: Pit data on the N side of the ridge showed some faceting in the top portion of the snowpack but no indications of a weak layer that is likely to propagate on collapse. The Dec 2 rain crust was buried 112cm below the snow surface at this location. Faceted layers that once existed above and below this crust are now fully rounded and high density at this location.

Snowpit or crown profile photo or graph: 
Snowpack photos: 
Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
No
Cloud Cover: 
Clear
Air temperature: 
Below Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Moderate
Precipitation: 
Air temperature trend: 
Warming
Wind Direction: 
Northeast
Accumulation rate: 
More detailed information about the weather: