Grand Mesa
SnowpackJewel Campbell · Mar 26, 2024 · Grand Mesa
Weather
Cold day with steady north wind. Mostly overcast in the morning with a few minutes of sun at a time between clouds. Light snow (graupel) on and off all day, then by mid-afternoon the storm descended and it began to snow harder and was completely overcast with low clouds. Measured temps in low 20s all day.
Snowpack
I traveled below tree line to 10,500'. New snow was about 30cm, with very little accumulation in open areas affected by the wind, and up to 60cm on lee slopes. North slopes had 30cm of new snow with a 5cm temperature crust below that, even in very shaded aspects and in trees. The height of snow was between 200-220cm There was a melt-freeze crust with a thin layer of facets on top and underneath it at the interface of the new and old snow. These layers did not show very concerning propagation potential. East slopes had between 30 and 60cm of new snow depending on drifts, with a >5cm melt-freeze crust below that. The snowpack was pencil hard down to the 40cm of depth hoar and the height of snow was 180-220cm in non-drifted areas. South slopes had 30cm of new snow in non wind-affected areas on top of a >10cm melt-freeze crust. The height of snow was 180-205cm and water had reached the ground on these aspects. The snow was dry from the surface layers to the ground, but the layers consisted of frozen slush and ice. I did not find depth hoar. The new snow on all aspects was dense, dry and cold. By mid-afternoon the south slopes were a touch warmer, and you could almost pack the snow into a snowball. I did not observe wind transporting snow, but there were drifts on north-east slopes. I wasn't able to sluff the storm snow on any northern test slopes, and didn't see any loose dry avalanches on the steep southern chutes of Crag Crest.