Steamboat & Flat Tops

Snowpack

Max Strotbeck · Apr 4, 2024 · Steamboat & Flat Tops

Weather

Few clouds in morning turning progressively to broken skies by late afternoon. Light to moderate south winds. Temperatures well above freezing. No new snow.

Snowpack

I dug snow pits on north-northwest and north-northeast slopes between 10,300-10,500 feet. I noted very small (2mm) surface hoar crystals on the snow surface that likely sublimated due to the warm air later in the day. The snow that fell from late March through April 1 was predominately rounded grains. Beneath this snow, I found the layer that formed during the mid-to-late March dry spell buried at least 55cm deep. This layer was 1cm thin and about knife hard on the hand hardness scale. In the snow pit dug on a north-northwest aspect this layer was a crust, though this crust did not appear to be surrounded by faceted grains. I found the early March dust layer buried 80-90cm deep. In both snowpits, I found the snow directly beneath this dust layer to consist of mostly rounded grains, though there were still rounding facets in the snowpit dug on the north-northeast aspect.