Observations from West side Relay Peak

Location Name: 
West side Relay Peak
Region: 
Mount Rose Area
Date and time of observation: 
Thu, 12/14/2017 - 16:00
Location Map: 
United States
39° 19' 30.9" N, 119° 56' 41.064" W
See map: Google Maps
US


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

Observations from the west side of Relay Peak.  Most surface snow below 9000' that wasn't 100% protected had a sun crust.  Above 9000', protected areas in the trees still had dry, unconsolidated snow (faceted), some places up to 30cm.  On this aspect, most unprotected areas above 9000' have a hard wind slab overlaying a soft facet layer; this is the same soft layer that is exposed, on the surface, in the protected areas.  

Pic 1 - unconsolidated snow that was beneath a very hard wind slab in an open, unprotected area

Pic 2 - soft, facet layer resulting in mutiple failures during compression tests; this layer was 15cm thick and 15cm down, below the hard wind slab

Snowpit or crown profile photo or graph: 
Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
No
Cloud Cover: 
25% of the sky covered by clouds
Air temperature: 
Above Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Light
Precipitation: 
None
Air temperature trend: 
Cooling
Wind Direction: 
East
Accumulation rate: 
None
More detailed information about the weather: