pre-storm obs from Echo

Location Name: 
Echo Lake to Flagpole
Region: 
Echo Summit Area
Date and time of observation: 
Wed, 12/09/2015 - 11:00
Location Map: 
United States
38° 50' 43.3572" N, 120° 3' 15.9804" W
See map: Google Maps
US


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

Pic 1: A quick pit on an E aspect at 7700ft showed a thin layer of basal facets that were moist and easy to form together. The mid-pack stripe is a melt-freeze crust that didn't show any faceting on E aspects but some faceting on NE aspects (see pic 2).

Pic 2 (Camera was a little crooked): One of a few ECTPs about 20m apart while traversing Flagpole's NE aspect at 8000ft. Compression tests were reliably sudden under the mid-pack MFcr, but ECTs were inconsistent. Basal facets on NE aspects were weaker than on E, but still moist and easy to form together. 

Pic 3: Looking down from the right of Flagpole's "Hollywood Line" - not much continuous snow. A surface melt freeze crust was observed throughout this area.

Pic 4: W towards Pyramid shows similar thin and discontinuous snow, though the main Ralston drainage was not visible. Note the lack of wind transport.

Pic 4: Becker/Talking Cirque. In case travel in this area becomes easier soon, note that the lake is still not frozen yet.

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: 
Above Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Gale Force
Precipitation: 
None
Air temperature trend: 
Static
Wind Direction: 
West
Accumulation rate: 
None
More detailed information about the weather: 

Strong winds with gale force gusts during which it was hard to maintain footing. Tree branches and even large pieces of manzanitas observed being wind transported, but no snow transport observed.