hold on to your hats

Location Name: 
Middle Fork Corridor
Observation date: 
Saturday, February 19, 2022 - 17:45
Is this an Avalanche Observation: 
No
Observation made by: Professional Observer

Location

Tabs

Quick Observation

Hold on to your hats; today was a windy field day in the Middle Fork. Our goal was to get a sense of the snowpack structure before the impending storm.

  • Warm air temperatures made for moist surface snow up to ~ 6000 feet. We observed fresh rollerballs at low and mid-elevations.
  • At 5000 feet, winds had transported any soft snow that was available. These wind-affected slopes had minimal cracking under our skis, but we mainly traveled on a firm, supportable crust above 5000 feet.
  • We dug a snow pit on a north aspect at 6155 feet. Please see the snowpack tab for more details.
  • The winds and blowing snow were moderate to strong throughout the day.
  • As we descended, we were encouraged by the s-1 snowfall, which, unfortunately, became rain at the trailhead.

 

Snowpack, Avalanche, Weather Images: 
Travel Details
Region: 
Flathead Range - Middle Fork Corridor
Activity: 
Skiing
Snowpack Details
Snowpack and Weather Details: 
Hide Terrain
Elevation of observation: 
3500-5000 ft
5000-6500 ft
Aspect(s) of observation: 
N
NE
E
SE
S
Red Flags: 
Blowing snow
Persistent Weak Layers: 
Surface Hoar
Buried
New Snow in the past 24 hours: 
0.00in.
Total Snow Depth: 
300
More comments about the snowpack and weather: 
The snow height was 300cm on a north aspect at 6155 feet. In a small column test, we got failure (CT29) at 40cm on a layer of graupel and at 30 cm down on a thin ice crust below this week's snow (CT25). We had no propagation in an extended column test. We got a planar break on a layer of broken surface hoar 90cm below the surface in one shovel shear.
Blowing Snow: 
Moderate
Wind Speed: 
Strong (Whole trees in motion)
Wind Direction: 
Southwest
Air temperature: 
Above Freezing
Sky Cover: 
Increasing clouds
Highest Precipitation Rate: 
Very Light Snowfall (S-1)