CAIC Observation Report

Snowpack

I've been out of town for the past week and have no new snowpack observations to contribute. However, while reading your Steamboat zone snow discussion I noticed that you mention the rain crust layer buried at ~25cm. I know for a fact that this crust was formed on the evening of October 24th. At my observation location at 9K at the steamboat ski area I reported 9" of new snow on the morning of the 23rd, followed by an additional 2" of new snow on the morning of the 24th. there was a break in the weather during the day on the 24th and temps rose into the 30's. At approximately 1700 hours on the 24th, a steady rain started falling and continued throughout the night before changing back to snow at approximately 0600 hours on the 25th. I checked obs. from the Tower SNOTEL on the morning of the 25th and noticed an increase in moisture content of over 1.5" in a 12 hour period. I went skiing at the ski area on the 25th and was surprised to find the rain crust layer all the way to the summit at 10,300'. The crust was completely unbreakable. I noticed that on a west aspect the crust felt like frozen corn, but on a north facing slope the crust felt like a slick sheet of ice. I just wanted to pass along my obs. since I seem to be the only person I have talked to that remembers this rain event in October. Thanks for the reports, I like the new danger scale being used this season