Front Range
SnowpackNick Barlow · Mar 27, 2017 · Front Range
Weather
Skies turned OVC around 0130, with S-1 developing around 0200. Winds still relatively calm.
Snowpack
Still found some structure on this NE aspect NTL. Three distinct ice/MF crusts in top 1-meter of snow. Some of it was thick blue ice. No percolation columns found. It's been a slow & steady melt, with free water pooling and freezing at different depths. Fresh zipper crust on the surface, with very small near-surface facets developing. Below the surface crust, there was a thin (very wet) layer of recent storm snow. The only reactive layer was NSF 20-25cm down, below a very stout layer of ice and melt forms. Hard/stubborn CT/ECT's, no propagation. The crust is very strong and supportable. It's hard to imagine it causing problems without multiple cycles of heavy storm snow.