Public Observation

Observation Details

Observations

Touring in the Knolls today at around 8400' on a WNW aspect on a 15 deg slope angle in the trees I experienced what I believe was a double whumphing collapse of the snowpack. The first whumph sounded fairly deep (well below the new/old interface) and the second whumph, which came a half second later, sounded much deeper (darkest depths of Mordor deep).

I was quite surprised by this, since the new snow in this location was only about 6". There is always a chance that I was just hearing an echoing concussion from an avy blast on the mountain, or maybe a bear farted in a tree behind me, but my distinct impression was that this was a whumph and if I had to bet money on it, that's where I'd put it. There were no visible cracks in the snow post-whumph.

As I climbed in elevation, the new snow became deeper (10-12") and there were isolated wind deposits in the trees on NW catchment zones. Both the fresh wind deposits and the new snow exhibited a lot of localized cracking. The wind deposits sheared off cleanly (Q1) while the new snow sheared Q3 at a density change within the new snow.

I observed moderate wind transport of snow in the trees early in the day (enough to partially fill in my skin track after one lap).

I also observed graupel in isolated locations (especially catchment zones) which will get buried soon.

Around noon, I began seeing roller balls as the new snow got wet.

Looking at the Sherwins on my drive home, the mountains were clearly talking to us today.

Signs of Unstable Snow