Weekly Summary
January 1st-8th
The week started coming off the tails of a storm. The Swan had a rapid loading event with 1.7” of SWE falling in 24 hours. The rest of the forecast area did not receive as much snow. A freezing rain crust capped off this storm bringing in the new year. The week continued with rising temperatures and more moisture. The next storm came in on Sunday giving us 3” to 5” accompanied by moderate to strong winds. The storm broke into a rare bluebird powder day but left us with a new sun crust on southerly aspects up to mid elevations. The snow and wind continued for several days creating multigenerational wind slabs which were the main concern for the week. These wind slabs were widespread across the area and their reactivity was variable. Many parties reported them as stubborn but there were still some propagating results in snow pits. The warm temperatures at low elevations created the possibility of some loose wet activity during the day and produced a melt freeze crust to note going forward. Persistent slabs continue to be a problem. In the top and middle of the snowpack there are crusts associated with facets and buried surface hoar that have been reported throughout the region. Even though these problems are becoming harder to trigger they could still catch you off guard and are capable of causing severe consequences. The end of the week had a high pressure system push into the area and it looks like it’s here to stay for a while. Watch for surface hoar growth and near surface faceting during this extended high pressure ridge.
