Observation from Tram Ridge

Our tour in Shirley Canyon yeilded a variety of different snowpack obs. Below 7000' the rain event has saturated the upper snowpack and created rain runnels. The clear night and light refreeze had left a thin crust that was somewhat supportable in the AM and not supportable in the afternoon due to daytime warming. As we toured higher, new snow became noticable on the surface, as well as lots of evidence of the SW winds. Extensive scouring was observed on any terrain feature exposed to this wind, and likewise all lee aspects showed new loading. Looking to the peak level, there was large amounts of blowing snow and loading throughout the day, again from the SW winds. Limited instability was observed in this area, the upper snowpack showing little desire to propagate at the base of the newest wind slab. In this area, there was a very sensitive fresh layer of fresh wind deposited snow (3-9cm thick) on the surface, this making up the main instability in this zone. This layer was easily observed in hand shear tests and skin track cutting. 

Snowpack tests showed that while there were several interfaces in the upper snowpack, we were not able to get any failures to propagate. (CT4 RP @6cm, CT26 RP@45cm, ECTNx2)