Sawatch
SnowpackJason Konigsberg · Mar 22, 2022 · Sawatch
Weather
Northerly winds at ridgetop. Cold temperatures. Skies mostly obscured and S1 to S2 at times but there was also times when the clouds broke and snow stopped.
Snowpack
Continue to get moderate propagating results on northerly near treeline slopes on dry-spell facets. The layer was 55 cm from the surface and the total snow depth was 130 cm. This troublesome layer has not gained much strength in the recent few weeks. The slab is supportable near treeline but as you descend you begin to punch through the lower-elevation weaker slab. My observations yesterday are similar to what I saw in a drainage to the north 5 days ago which is moderate propagating results on east and northeast near treeline, 45 cm from the surface. The bottom line is- it will be a long time before this weak layer is out of the picture unless we get warming and melt water into the snowpack. Future incremental loading will continue to cause problems and in some ways, we have yet to see avalanche activity peak on this layer in the Sawatch yet.