Aspen
SnowpackJewel Campbell · Feb 16, 2024 · Aspen
Weather
Very light snow in the late morning with patchy low clouds, visibility was 5 miles. Temps were in the upper 20's and winds were very light. Snow picked up by early afternoon (S2) and sky became completely overcast as the storm moved lower. Visibility 1 mile and temps warmed up to 30's. Wind picked up a little but remained light from the northeast. Less wind than expected and no wind-loading observed.
Snowpack
The top of the snowpack was new snow and near surface facets sitting on a layer of buried surface hoar from the beginning of February. The surface hoar, buried about 40cm deep, appeared to be rounding and sintering within the layer, but was not bonded with the faceted layers above or below it. This layer was active in snowpack tests. Below that was a fairly stiff mid-pack slab and about 60cm of well-developed depth hoar from the slab to the ground.