Professional Observation - Skyland Area, Flathead Range

Location Name: 
Professional Observation - Skyland Area, Flathead Range
Region: 
Flathead Range - Marias Pass/Skyland
Date and time of observation: 
Fri, 02/03/2017 - 12:04
Location Map: 

Red Flags: 
Recent loading by new snow, wind, or rain
Obvious avalanche path
Observation made by: Public
Snowpit Observations
More detailed information about the snowpack: 

Today we rode/skiied in the Skyland area.  In the parking lot the temps were below zero with little change until approx 6000 feet.  Above that elevation the temps increased to 23 degrees F in our pit.  

The riding below the inversion line was crusty and wind scoured.  Once we began ascending the more sheltered ridges the snow became softer and the crust was less evident. 

Our goals today were to A) look for buried surface hoar B) look for wind slabs and their density C) get a look at the snow surface before the storm this weekend.  

  • We did find buried surface hoar in both of our pits(NE and SW) roughly 6inches below the snow surface.  Although a bit more decomposed in the Southwest pit it was still there.  We found huge (up to 2.5 cm!) crystals on the North side.  
  • Our pits were dug at approx 7000 feet on opposing sides of the ridge with the upper 30 cm of snowpack looking fairly similar.  The buried surface hoar layer proved unreacitve in Extended Column Tests, however we did have failure at it in our Compression Test (CT 3).
  • There are well developed wind slabs below the ridgelines, however, they seem to be localized to spots that see only the heaviest of winds.  Any area that was protected at all did not have much in the way of a slab.  
  • Despite the cold temps we have had lately we did not find any surface hoar to exist at the snow surface.
  • We found a strong mid pack with a strengthening basal layer as well.

 

Snowpack photos: 
Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
No
Cloud Cover: 
100% of the sky covered by clouds
Air temperature: 
Below Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Calm (No air motion)
Precipitation: 
Snow
Air temperature trend: 
Warming
Accumulation rate: 
Less than 1 in. per hour
More detailed information about the weather: 

We left the area before the storm hit.  As we drove back to Hungry Horse though we encountered heavy snow.

Activity: 
Snowboarding
Precip Rate: 
S1; light snowfall, 1cm/hour
High Temp. (C): 
-1