Forecaster Observation - southern Whitefish Range

Location Name: 
Forecaster Observation - southern Whitefish Range
Region: 
Whitefish Range - Southern (south of Coal Creek)
Date and time of observation: 
Sun, 01/29/2017 - 12:00
Location Map: 

Red Flags: 
Obvious avalanche path
Terrain Trap
Observation made by: Forecaster
Snowpit Observations
More detailed information about the snowpack: 

We toured in the southern Whitefish Range with objectives of determining: Recent wind transport, snow surface conditions, state of the January 19 rain crust, weak layers in the pack and solar affects on the surface snow.

  • Wind scouring and deposition was found from crossloading of mid elevation slopes (e.g. Skook Chutes) and along upper elevation ridgelines. 
  • In the morning, the snow surface generally consisted of several inches of low density snow which sat on top of the January 19 rain event.
  • The January 19 rain event consisted of a 1cm thick P hard rain crust that was topped by 4 cm of dense snow. 
  • A 2-3 cm layer of weak facets sat below the rain crust and failed with easy force during our stability tests. No propagation was observed.
  • A 14 cm pencil hard slab sat below the facet layer.
  • Below the slab was a 2 cm facet layer. These facets failed with moderate force in our stability tests. No propagation was observed. 
  • The mid pack was a fairly cohesive strong (4F+ to 1F) slab.
  • 25-30 cm of rounding depth hoar was found at the bottom of the pack.
  • By the end of the day the surface snow was moist and it was possible to initiate small wet loose slides in this snow.
Snowpit or crown profile photo or graph: 
Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
No
Cloud Cover: 
Clear
Air temperature: 
Below Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Light (Twigs in motion)
Air temperature trend: 
Warming
Wind Direction: 
Southwest
Activity: 
Skiing