Vail & Summit County
SnowpackJason Konigsberg · Apr 8, 2018 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
The weather was all over the place today. It started overcast with periods of S2. Around noon there were periods of sun followed by more snow showers and squalls with graupel. Winds were only elevated on above treeline ridges. For the amount of wind, the wind-loading was not intense. Small cornices were forming as well as stiff slabs, especially on cross-loaded terrain features.
Snowpack
The new snow from the last 48 hours is about 60 cms in this area. This storm snow is moist and sits on wet snow layers and old crusts. Overall I did not find any significant instability within the new snow. The Friday snow and Saturday snow is one cohesive mass. Minor shears noted in top 12 inches but nothing propagated in and ECT. There were two concerns for today- one was wind-drifted slabs, both from previous wind and current wind loading. More concerning was loose wet activity below 11,000 feet. In many areas the 60 cms of storm snow sits on a melt-freeze crust. Although the lower-elevation snowpack is isothermal, the main concern for wet slides is storm snow on a crust. With a slight push, avalanches were intitiated. They would easily pick up speed and carry with them wet, inescapable debris as they slid on the buried crust. This problem will likely continue with warm temperatures and cloudy nights. We will need some cold temperatures with a clear night to help and good surface freeze to help heal this issue.