Professional Observation - south facing snow pit data, southern Whitefish Range

Location Name: 
Professional Observation - south facing snow pit data, southern Whitefish Range
Region: 
Whitefish Range - Southern (south of Coal Creek)
Date and time of observation: 
Wed, 02/10/2016 - 13:00
Location Map: 

Red Flags: 
Rapid warming
Observation made by: Professional Observer
Snowpit Observations
More detailed information about the snowpack: 

We dug a pit to see how recent warming events are affecting south facing slopes.  The snowpack was largely isothermic with moist grains found throughout.  We wanted to see how this wetting event and warm weather was affecting stability within the snowpack.  We performed several tests at this pit ;ocation including shovel shear, compression test and an extented column test.  We were unable to initiate fracture during the CT and ECT (CTN, ECTX.)  In the shovel shear test and when levering the columns of the other tests, several columns failed at the mid December rain crust with a Q3 shear.

Weather Observations
Cloud Cover: 
25% of the sky covered by clouds
Air temperature: 
Above Freezing
Precipitation: 
None
Air temperature trend: 
Warming
Activity: 
Skiing
High Temp. (C): 
3.3
Low Temp. (C): 
-1.7