Steamboat & Flat Tops

Avalanche

Ryan Lewthwaite · Mar 24, 2020 · Steamboat & Flat Tops

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Weather

Overcast skies with no wind. Snowing at a rate of S1 with Graupel and rimed precipitation particles. Temperature was 34.5F degrees.

Snowpack

2-3 inches of new snow fell overnight, S1 during the day, and was dominated by period of heavy Graupel. Warm springlike conditions exist in the north Steamboat zone. Below the recent snow the snowpack is dry to moist and the grains are round or rounding. On a below treeline north aspect around 9000ft, there is a melt-freeze/ facet combination layer 25cm deep. This layer shows failures in stability tests with hard force but no propagation potential(ECTX). At this time I would consider this layer a concern on steep terrain where a collapse could result in a small-large avalanche, but is unlikely. The lower snowpack is 1 finger hardness and well bonded.

Avalanche

NO new avalanches.