Grand Mesa

Snowpack

Rick (Grumpy) Smith · Jan 19, 2016 · Grand Mesa

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Weather

Clear Sky, no wind, Temp. was -10.1c @ 0930

Snowpack

Did a ECT at the Skyway (parking lot) site …10,640’ , Temp. at 0930 was -10.1c , Winds were calm, clear sky. Slope was 24*, facing SW …. 115cm depth at site. From 115-95 cm was an easy fist, 95-70 cm 4F, 70-55 cm 1F, 55-22 cm P, below 22 cm 4F. Tap test showed ECTN 27 at 70 cm. Temps. through snow pack …90 cm = -5.5c , 80 cm = -4.6c , 70 cm = -4.0c , 60 cm = -3.4c , 50 cm = -2.7c , 40 cm = -2.0c , 30 cm = -1.4 , 20 cm = .4c Top layers were mostly “Faceted Crystals” …. Mid pack showed “Rounded Crystal” …. around 15 cm appeared to be “Clustered Melt Forms” Water Equivalent (WE) in 12” at site was 1.26 / 10.5% …. I also did a WE with the top 6” at a site 15’ from the first and had an WE of .33 …. Big difference, I think I was pretty accurate with these observations ….The upper layer (6”) was very light snow …. Thoughts ?