Buried surface hoar on Rubicon Peak

Location Name: 
Rubicon Peak
Region: 
West Shore Area
Date and time of observation: 
Sun, 02/02/2014 - 11:00
Location Map: 
United States
38° 59' 22.344" N, 120° 8' 9.168" 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: 

The snowpack in this area showed continued signs of stabilization following the recent rain and snow. The rain crust has become strong and supportable. Some very early stage facets were visible forming on top of the rain crust, but bonding of recent new snow to the top of the rain crust remained good at the time of observation.

Surface hoar 5 to 7 mm in size was prevalent in northerly aspect below treeline open areas from the trailhead around 7,000' up to just below treeline around 9,000'. This surface hoar has now been buried under the two inches of new snow that fell in the area this morning. With more light snowfall and below average air temperatures forecast for the rest of today and week, this potential weak layer will become more deeply buried.

Photo: Snowfall rate steady at 1 cm per hour from before arrival at 9am through departing from the area at noon.

Snowpit or crown profile photo or graph: 
Snowpack photos: 
Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
No
Cloud Cover: 
100% of the sky covered by clouds
Air temperature: 
Below Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Calm
Precipitation: 
Snow
Air temperature trend: 
Static
Accumulation rate: 
Less than 1 in. per hour