Location: Paradise Divide Area
Date of Observation: 12/26/2018
Name: CBAC
Subject: East-South East NTL Purple Palace Zone
Aspect: East, South East
Elevation: 10,300′
Avalanches:
Observed a few small remains of some size .5-1 storm slabs that ran mid storm.
Weather: Nice sunny day with some clouds lingering to the NW. Temperatures remained in the 20’s today, but the solar radiation was intense throughout the mid part of the day. Winds remained calm down low and light at ridge tops until around 3PM then winds increased slightly with light snowfall increasing until last observed at 4 PM.
Snowpack: Snow depths NTL we found the avg. depth to be around 100cm . Solar radiation was intense the top 10 cm of the pack was WET! gloppy wet on E-SE aspects mid-day. On Specific wind loaded features east to southeast, we found a 1F slab over weak rounded facets below a crust on the December 19th layer around 2′ down. This is a layer of concern to keep an eye on as more possible snow or wind transport puts more weight on this interface. Three different ECT tests all resulted with propagation ECT 14-17. The crust was not as well developed on E but as we wrapped around more SE there was a distinct crust sandwich coated and filled with facets. Observed a small portion of N aspect NTL the slab was not as present there, the N aspect snow stayed cold throughout the day and lacked a reactive slab structure in the upper snowpack.
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