Professional Observation - Hellroaring Cr., Mission Range

Location Name: 
Professional Observation - Hellroaring Cr., Mission Range
Region: 
Outside of the Advisory Area
Date and time of observation: 
Fri, 03/17/2017 - 11:51
Location Map: 

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

We took a snowmobile ride today to gather some baseline information about the Mission Range.   We found a very supportable crust at all elevations and lots of water moving underneath the snow at lower elevations.

We did see several slopes with glide cracks on them.  We also saw where several slab avalanches had pulled out underneath rocky portions of the hillsides.  There was plenty of evidence of loose/wet avalanches around as well today.

In our pit we found a very sturdy upper crust(20 cm thick), with a soggy layer underneath.  We did see fracture at this interface in both of our tests (ECTN 14 and CT 11, Q3), however, no propagation.  The snow underneath was perfect snowball material(4 Finger density). 

There is a thin (2 cm) layer of facets on top of the Feb 10th crust.  Almost 130 cm of snow sits on top of this crust and while digging in several locations we noticed that this interface seemed weak and easy to pry apart. 

Snowpack photos: 
Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
No
Cloud Cover: 
25% of the sky covered by clouds
Air temperature: 
Above Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Calm (No air motion)
Precipitation: 
None
Air temperature trend: 
Warming
Accumulation rate: 
None
More detailed information about the weather: 

Sunny and warm!  It had gotten above freezing by the early afternoon and the snow surface was getting slushy.

Activity: 
Snowmobiling