Front Range
AvalancheRyan Lewthwaite · Dec 26, 2019 · Front Range
Weather
A cold start to the morning with -14 Celsius. The clouds were scattered throughout the day and it snowed for one half hour, with no measurable accumulations.
Snowpack
Large surface hoar over 5mm was observed in sheltered areas. It is not expected to be a future significant layer as is was laying down and not upright. 2-4 cm of new snow fell yesterday and was redistributed by light winds from the southeast. No cracking was observed in the new snow. On a southeast aspect, in a protected below treeline area, we found the snow depth to be 100cm. The snow from over a week ago, that forms the mid pack slab is faceting and losing strength. The depth hoar near the ground is weak, and failures can occur at the top part of this layer. Also, a melt-freeze crust at 30cm is losing strength but still acting as a bed-surface in stability tests. The depth hoar layer is the primary concern for this area. We performed an extended column test that did not propagate but it did crack at 55cm in a buried surface hoar layer. A propagation saw test 30/100 End, did propagate just above the melt-freeze crust within the weakest portion of the depth hoar layer.
Avalanche
The avalanches we noticed occurred during the snowfall from 12/12. The soft slabs of drifted snow accumulated on south and east aspects in this above treeline zone. These avalanches released naturally at the old snow/new snow interface.