Grand Mesa
SnowpackMatt Huber · Jan 10, 2020 · Grand Mesa
Weather
A band of heavy precipitation hovered between 9000 and 10,000 feet before noon. Above 10,000 feet, clouds were thin, broken and very light snowfall. Temperatures did not make it above 5 degrees during the day. 20 centimeters of very low density snow accumulated in the past 24 hours, with no blowing snow visible on ridgelines.
Snowpack
On southerly-facing slopes at 10,500 feet, the total snowpack depth ranges between 85-100 cm. Below the recent 15-20 cm of new snow, an almost-supportive 5 cm melt-freeze crust exists but the new snow shows no slab-like properties. At 54 cm from the ground, a melt freeze/facet combination exists that produces non-propagating moderate Extended Column Test results. On northerly facing slopes, moderate, propagating extended column tests ECTP 15-17 continue on the depth hoar layer.