Grand Mesa

Snowpack

Dylan Craaybeek · Jan 8, 2022 · Grand Mesa

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Weather

Drove through Light to Moderate rain on I-70 to light snow (S1) and Broken sky at Powderhorn around 10:00AM. By 11:00 AM sky was Overcast and snow had picked up to Moderate intensity (S4-S5) with Light wind gusts. Moderate to Heavy precipitation and Overcast sky lasted throughout the day until around 3:00 PM when snow began to taper off and some sun peaked through the Broken sky cover.

Snowpack

Average height of snow (HS) on northerly slopes was around 150cm with wind loaded terrain features deeper than 2 meters. A firm 1F to P hard slab around 1m thick in most areas rests on top of 10-20cm of weak rounding-faceted grains at the base where October-November snow was preserved. Southerly slopes had a breakable Melt-Freeze crust buried under today's snow which had accumulated around 5 inches throughout the day. New snow was rimed and moist.