Front Range

Snowpack

Jason Konigsberg · Mar 14, 2016 · Front Range

Weather

Intermittent snow showers throughout the day not more than .5"/hr. Light wind in sheltered terrain, but as soon as I got above treeline westerly winds were moderate with some strong gusts. When I left around 3 PM snow was heavy at over 1"/hr. Temps were mild.

Snowpack

A crust-facet combination exists on east and northeast aspects near treeline. The melt-freeze crust is about an inch thick and is supportable to skis but breaks apart in your hand. This layer could become a problem and be responsible for large avalanches if we receive over an inch of water with continued wind.---The crust on southeast aspects was much stronger and impacting any layering underneath would be very unlikely.---Above treeline there was minor wind loading but I did not find the small wind drifts reactive.---All aspects below treeline are recovering from the recent warm spell and are freezing from the top down.---The new snow came in very warm and dense and seems to be bonding well to the old snow surface and old crusts including slick ones.