Small wind slabs and dust on crust on Donner Peak

Location Name: 
Donner Peak
Region: 
Donner Summit Area
Date and time of observation: 
Fri, 02/08/2013 - 11:40
Location Map: 
United States
39° 18' 28.9332" N, 120° 18' 49.5648" W
See map: Google Maps
US


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

2-4 inches of new snow rested on top of supportable crusts in the Donner Peak area on W-NW-N-NE-E-SE aspects. On the exposed windward aspects, the new snow had been scoured away and firm crusts remained exposed. On some of the more heavily wind loaded NE-N aspects, small wind slabs up to 16 inches deep existed. These wind slabs did not extend very far down slope but did crack and fracture in response to a skier's weight. the moving snow on these test slopes would entrain the wind slabs and the loose snow on top of the crusts below the wind slabs. In non wind affected areas, the new snow did not display many slab characteristics. The crusts below the new snow would support the weight of a skier or snowboarder in this area. Below these crusts a thin layer of weak sugary snow still exists. Fractures did not travel along this layer during tests today.

Snowpit: NW aspect at 7840 ft.

Photo 1: 8 inch deep wind slab failure on a near treeline wind loaded test slope.

Photo 2: 12-16 inch deep wind slab on a near treeline wind loaded test slope.

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
Precipitation: 
None
Air temperature trend: 
Static
Wind Direction: 
Northeast
Accumulation rate: 
More detailed information about the weather: