Public Field Report

Observation Details

Signs of Unstable Snow

Observations

We were up at Williams Hut from Friday through Monday so we got to witness the storm event in a very experiential way! We recorded a storm total of about 50 cm with 40 of those cm falling between Friday evening and Saturday evening. Storm intensity varied throughout the day but we had to rebreak the trail up Jerry's each time we went up! The wind seemed mostly moderate and went from southerly, to northerly to easterly throughout the day. The storm was so intense that visibility was definitely pretty minimal at times. We dug hand pits and found that the top 8 inches or so of snow seemed to be behaving as a slab. Temperatures remained cool (most times I glanced at the thermometer near the hut it read in the teens). The snow on Saturday was as blower as I have ever seen snow and it definitely settled on Sunday and Monday. When the sun briefly came out we were nervous that there would be a crust but did not find it (although we were mostly skiing an easterly slope). As we descended back to the parking lot yesterday we definitely could feel that the snow down lower was heavier and crustier.