Schneeschatten

Traveled to the Kintla Valley in the Northern Livingston Range for two nights. Luckily we were not here for downhill skiing, as the infamous snow shadow that haunts the upper valley is in full force this winter. We were here to maintain/resupply a few bait stations for wolverine research.

1/29

• Good snow coverage from the river to the lower lake(3800'-4000'). HS ~2.5ft. Supportable crust capped with 1-2 inches of NSF and SH.
• Temperatures below freezing all day and winds were calm, even out in the middle of the lake ice. Skies were CLR in the morning after a stratus deck burned off and SCT by late afternoon.
• No avalanches observed on the large peaks visable from the lower lake.
• We traveled to the head of the lower lake for the evening, where we first encountered the snow shadow. HS 1-4 inches...

1/30

• Traveled to Upper Kintla Lake.
• HS between to two lakes ranged from 0 inches (no joke) to 12 inches max. (4000'- 4400')
• Light/Moderate winds from the West observed throughout the day under BKN skies.
• Trace amounts of snowfall on and off throughout the day. Less than 1cm accumulated, which is probably a good dump for this area.
• Temps were comfortable and hovered in the low-mid 30s.
• May have observed one old avalanche crown in the Red Medicine Bow Creek Valley, NE facing 5400'-5600'. It is possible that this is also a crossloaded wind feature. Was hard to be sure with the suboptimal visability.  Picture attached 
• The snow shadow appeared to be impacting some of the mid/upper elevation terrain in this area as well. The West/Northwest slopes of Kinnerly Peak looked extremely thin and wind scoured.
• By evening, snowfall and blustery winds invaded the valley. New snow was falling on a moist snow surface, from warm temps late in the day.

1/31

• Awoke to 1.5cm of overnight snowfall, OVC skies, Trace active precip, and light winds from the West/ Southwest.
• New snow was capping an eggshell raincrust that formed at some point during the night. This was differentiated from the previous days MF Crust, as it formed on a storm board that I placed in the evening on top of the moist snow.
• While traveling the lake ice to exit the valley, we observed peculiar formations on top of the ice that told a story of a storm that began with moist snowfall and strong winds.
• These features were similar to rollerball/wet loose activity, but formed as the result of stong, blustery winds unstitching/unrolling the carpet on top of the ice. We did not observe the active formation of any of these features, rather the aftermath as they were littered intermittenly throughout the mid-lower section of the lake.
• Oddly these rolls, were very dry and powdery, which we attribute to cold nighttime temps sucking the moisture out. They certainly resemble wet loose rolls, so I imagine they were moist during formation. Any other hypothesis? Pictures attached.
• Temps remained near, but slightly below freezing most of the day.
• Total daytime snowfall amounted to 1 inch as of 6pm. Around 6:30, the precipiation intensified throughout the duration of my drive back to town.