Front Range
SnowpackBrian Lazar · Apr 20, 2011 · Front Range
Weather
partly to mostly cloudy. Enough breaks in the clouds to let sun in, but enough cloud cover to keep much of it from escaping. Felt like greenhouse effect out there. Temps in the upper 30s to around 40 at treeline.
Snowpack
Complicated snowpack. Spent most of the day on southwest to southeast aspects at all elevations. Top 12" or so is the recent storm snow over the last few days. Snow 3-4 inches of new snow in last 24 hours settled over an inch by noon to 1-2 ". This top 1-2" was stiffening and getting moist. Under this was 3-5" of 4 finger soft snow that likely fell during the nighttime hours. Then another 7" of moist 1F moist snow. About 12-18" down, was a visible weak layer of facets, which has water in it, so facets mixed with wet grains. The stout 2-3" March crust now sits about 2.5-3 feet down, with lots of moist snow on top, and at least one noticeable wet weak layer. Below treeline, the snow is wet, and full of water. Skis penetrating well in snowpack and causing widespread roller balls and small loos slides. These could become quite big in larger terrain features. Wet slabs are a distinct possibility.