Sawatch

Avalanche

John Mackinnon ยท Dec 4, 2016

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Weather

Mostly clear skies, light to moderate westerly winds, air temp of -4 C at 3 pm at 11,200 ft. There was intermittent light blowing snow at all elevations with a few sizable plumes coming off ridge tops.

Snowpack

I observed a weak and shallow snowpack on all aspects below 11,500 ft. Above 11K, HS averaged 15-20 cm in sheltered areas and there were bare spots on all exposed southerly slopes. A thin (10-15 cm) soft slab existed in extremely isolated areas where winds had drifted snow over the past week. HS never exceeded 40 cm. The snow surface on lower elevation south aspects became moist by mid-day and had developed crusts by the time we descended in the afternoon.

Avalanche

We did not observe any avalanche activity