Gunnison
SnowpackCBAC Staff · Oct 28, 2024 · Gunnison
Weather
Cloud Cover: Overcast (Cloudy, 8/8 covered) New or Recent Snowfall (cm): 1 Rain/Snow Line: 10000 Snow Available For Transport: Small Amounts Wind Loading: None Weather Summary: The early warm phase of the storm produced light snowfall and graupel above 10,000', rain at lower elevations.
Snowpack
On steep north and northeast aspects at 12k: About 8" of old snow from the mid-October storm has faceted to 1mm, fist hard facets, most of which is dry with some moist grains at the ground. Coverage was continuous enough to be a failure layer in these bowls. On steep east aspects at 12k: Not much old snow here, but the lingering patches have a melt-freeze crust on the surface a few cm's thick. There's not enough coverage to form a failure layer, and I didn't see any persistent weak layer concerns on terrain features with coverage. I imagine some east-facing slopes (ENE ?) have continuous coverage and a thin, collapsible crust over facets. The crust on west aspects was stout and to the ground in the few places it survived the meltout here.