Professional Observation - Sixmile Peak - Swan Range

Location Name: 
Professional Observation - Sixmile Peak - Swan Range
Region: 
Swan Range - South (south of Swan Lake)
Date and time of observation: 
Mon, 03/13/2017 - 13:33
Location Map: 

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

Our goals were to:

-Assess the distribution and sensitivity of the recently formed wind slabs

 -Observe the elevation and/or timing of the snow surface's warm-up

-Check back in on the February 10th Rain Crust

We found widespread wind slabs in exposed areas above 5500'. We also dug two pits today that clearly showed a reactive layer cake of windslabs and the warm temperatures' ablity to increase cohesiveness of a slab.  Both pits had propagating results with hard force.  One of these failed on the deeply buried Februay 10th Rain Crust.  We also found a moist snowpack below 5000'.

Pit #1 - 6300', NE Aspect, Wind Loaded Slope, 300cm Total Depth

ECTN2@265,  ECTP26@245,  ECTP30@230 *February 10th Rain Crust was noted at 165cm from ground

Pit #2 - 5360', E Aspect, 190cm Total Depth

ECTN3@170,  ECTN15@150,  ECTP28@130 x2, ECTP28@90 x2 on top of the February 10th Rain Crust (double failure! Check out the video!)

Snowpack photos: 
Snowpit videos (tests, etc): 

Plague of the Feb. 10th Crust - Swan Range

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

As the new storm front rolled in (around 1pm) the snow surface warmed and stiffened noticably.  Rain line was ~5000'.

Activity: 
Snowmobiling
Precip Rate: 
RL; light rain, up to 2.5mm of water/hour
High Temp. (C): 
2
Low Temp. (C): 
-2