Forecaster Observation - Early Season Snowpack - Red Meadow area, northern Whitefish Range

Location Name: 
Forecaster Observation - Early Season Snowpack - Red Meadow area, northern Whitefish Range
Region: 
Whitefish Range - Northern (north of Coal Creek)
Date and time of observation: 
Wed, 12/02/2015 - 13:00
Location Map: 


Observation made by: Forecaster
Snowpit Observations
More detailed information about the snowpack: 

Shallow snowpack on N aspect on Red Meadow Mt. at 5800 ft. consisted of 1-2 cm of new snow topping 7mm surface hoar. Near surface facets below this layer. Brush (alder) interfered with representative stability test results. 

On Whitefish Mt. on a NW aspect at 6300 ft. the snowpack was substantially deeper. Snowpack depth = 120cm. Near surface facets about 5-10 cm below the sfc. existed. One ECT result: ECTX.  

Snowpit or crown profile photo or graph: 
Snowpit videos (tests, etc): 

December 2, 2015 - Red Meadow, northern Whitefish Range

Any other comments about the observation or links to outside pages that have more info on the observation: 

Decent snowmobiling above 5500 feet despite the shallow, early season snowpack.

Weather Observations
Cloud Cover: 
100% of the sky covered by clouds
Air temperature: 
Below Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Light (Twigs in motion)
Precipitation: 
Snow
Air temperature trend: 
Warming
Wind Direction: 
Southwest
Accumulation rate: 
Less than 1 in. per hour
More detailed information about the weather: 

Light snow in the morning (S -1) with precipitation tapering by mid-day.

Activity: 
Snowmobiling