Front Range
AvalancheRyan Lewthwaite · Mar 29, 2020 · Front Range
Weather
Thin overcast clouds allowed some warmth from the sun but little surface melting occurred. It was snowing S1- with almost a trace of new snow. Winds were light out of the west with minimal blowing snow. Temperature was 29.5F degrees.
Snowpack
The 3-4 inches of snow from the previous day was wind and sun effected in many areas. In wind exposed areas the surface snow had formed a denser slab of drifted snow that was up to 6 inches thick. This layer of snow was soft and breakable with little propagation potential. The protected north aspect, near treeline, where I dug my snowpit was in a concave gully feature. The snow here had begun transitioning to a springlike snowpack but was interrupted by cold temps. Formerly rounded grains in the mid layers had re-facetted into a less cohesive layer. This location was devoid of firm crusts and surface instabilities. The bottom of the snowpack had retained the facets and depth hoar we have been concerned with for most of the season. The interface between these two persistent layers, at 49cm from the ground, was my problem spot. With the depth over 160cm, triggering this deeper instability is unlikely but still of concern.
Avalanche
No new avalanches