Sawatch
AvalancheBrandon Levy · May 2, 2019 · Aspen
Weather
Broken skies with fairly consistent and moderate W wind. Temperature was steady around 30F for most of the morning and early afternoon.
Snowpack
The late April / early May storm snow has settled to about one foot of snow above the old snow surface (4/26) The storm snow is dense and already 1F- in resistance. The interface between the storm snow and the old snow surface produced a moderate propagating result in an extended column test and an easy shear in a shovel tilt test. Top 5-10cms on the SSE facing slopes above the highway were moist when the sun appeared and slightly crispy during extended periods of cloud cover. Significant cornice growth on the N and E facing slopes around Independence Mountain and elsewhere in the alpine.
Avalanche
A few R1D1 shallow LWa were observed on none highway paths mostly on steep E facing terrain below cornices