Sawatch
SnowpackJason Konigsberg, Ben Pritchett · Dec 12, 2018 · Sawatch
Weather
Winds were moderate at ridgetop around noon, effectively drifting snow and forming slabs on lee slops. By 2 PM winds increased with gusts in the 40s. Snow transport became less effective with the stronger afternoon winds. Skies were mostly sunny in the morning increasing to obscured in the afternoon.
Snowpack
The snowpack on near treeline easterly slopes has a poor structure and is a little less than a meter deep. Future loading will produce avalanches on a mid-pack weak layer buried 30 to 40 cms from the ground.---Today we saw effective wind loading onto northeast and east slopes and a reactive Wind Slab avalanche problem. Wind-drifted snow was failing on a thin layer of facets above older wind drifts or in one case on top of an old bed surface. Avalanches were remotely triggered and one small avalanche in rocky terrain broke on old, persistent snow layers.