Professional Observation - Rescue Cr., Flathead Range

Location Name: 
Professional Observation - Rescue Cr., Flathead Range
Region: 
Flathead Range - Middle Fork Corridor
Date and time of observation: 
Thu, 03/29/2018 - 12:44
Location Map: 

Red Flags: 
Recent loading by new snow, wind, or rain
Obvious avalanche path
Terrain Trap
Observation made by: Professional Observer
Snowpit Observations
More detailed information about the snowpack: 
  • We did find wind slabs today.  They thickened above 5800', below this elevation there didn't seem to be enough loose snow around to transport.  They were roughly 30-40 cm thick near the ridgetop, however, they were unreactive in our tests.  
  • In the shaded aspects the snow was still light and skiied great.
  • As we left we could see the wind picking up in the higher elevations, from the West.
  • We observed several small avalanches (D1- 1.5) that we think occured yesterday.  They looked to be wind slabs that had pulled out just below the Flathead Divide.  
  • We observed several small loose wets that had occured during yesterday's warm spell as well.
Snowpit or crown profile photo or graph: 
Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
Yes
Cloud Cover: 
25% of the sky covered by clouds
Air temperature: 
Below Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Light (Twigs in motion)
Precipitation: 
None
Air temperature trend: 
Warming
Wind Direction: 
West
Accumulation rate: 
None
More detailed information about the weather: 

The winds seemed to be picking up in the higher elevations as we were leaving in the mid afternoon.  The air temp warmed enough to start turning the south facing slopes into good corn skiing conditions after 12:30 or so.

Activity: 
Snowboarding