Aspen

Snowpack

Brian McCall · Jan 8, 2013 · Aspen

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Weather

Thin broken clouds with light northwest winds and mild temperatures. Thicker cumulus clouds observed late morning over the Divide on some of the higher peaks.

Snowpack

Snowpack on Richmond Hill is still shallow, averaging 65-70 cm near treeline and about 50 cm below treeline. The faceting process is changing the shallow snowpack in this area quite quickly during this period of dry weather. Mid pack persistent slab is losing strength, especially below treeline. Loose snow avalanches becoming more common on steep northerly aspects. Depth hoar grains in the lower snowpack have now reached 4-6mm in size and are starting to form some chains.