Sawatch
SnowpackBo Torrey , Jason Konigsberg · Mar 13, 2021 · Sawatch
Weather
Overcast in the early morning with light snow. Occasionally clouds would thin and sun would come through. Heavy snowfall began around 2:00pm.
Snowpack
We focused our field day on the upper layers of the snowpack. On Southeast and east facing slopes near treeline we found a buried crust combination. On south, southeast and due east-facing slopes the upper crust is thick (roughly 2-3cm) and would support a large amount of snow before it would fail. This crust facet layering combination is concerning and could be a problem in areas where the crust is thinner and more snow accumulates. North-facing slopes near treeline also had a crust facet combination buried 20cm (8 inches) below the new and recent snow. The faceted snow below the crust was some of the more developed near surface facets that we have both seen with this particular layer.