Front Range

Snowpack

FOBP on-snow day- Berthoud Pass West & East side. 11380 to 11700. 28F at 8am with WNW 20mph winds followed by rapid 1-1.5hr warming spell to 40F+. Winds diminished until abt 11a then quickly picked back up to 25+ moving any remaining snow. Clear skies until 230p then rapid drop in temp and obscured skies moved in with higher sustained gusts abt 40mph. 70-130cm snow depths across various N,E,S aspects. S and SE aspects have buried 2-3cm knife-hard January crust below recent WS. NE aspects covered in both isolated and widespread 15-70 cm+ wind slabs on top of 2 buried deeper slabs - noticeably a 1F 40-90cm slab sitting right on top of basal facets. No signs of whumpf/cracks on mellower terrain but lots of wind transport and also some recent avys to observe (all noted earlier in CAIC obs 2/4-2/6). Great day to poke around and observe but the wind really left a mark TL and >TL. Aspect: SE Elevation: Near treeline