Grand Mesa
AvalancheBrandon Levy · Mar 12, 2020 · Grand Mesa
Weather
Yesterday afternoon around 1600 it rained to at least 10600' but only for a brief period before temperatures cooled followed by additional light snowfall. The temperature at the Skyway weather station recorded 31F or 30F around that period. Today the skies were broken with a slowly rising temperature and light Southwest wind.
Snowpack
Snow surfaces were dry at noon on Grand Mesa at 10500' on a west / northwest facing slope. The new snow primarily consists of grauple near the surface which settled to 4cms above a thin, fragile rain crust from mid storm. Under those layers some snow from earlier in the storm and from 3/9/2020 all sit above a harder melt-freeze crust that was buried on the 9th of March. The top of the crust is firm and slick and crumbling a bit on its lower end. The recent storm snow slid off this lower crust with moderate taps in a shovel tilt test. This 3/9 crust is likely thinner on the North facing slopes of the Cliffs. ECTX in the top 70cms. Foot penetration was 35cms--the 3/9 crust was unsupportable despite being nearly knife hard in its top portion. Snowpack was dry above the 3/9 crust and dry to moist below.
Avalanche
Small wet slab in cross-loaded spot below a rock outcrop in Cliffs #2 during period of rain yesterday evening.