Location: Paradise Divide Area
Date of Observation: 11/22/2019
Name: Evan Ross

Subject: Shooting Crack, Mt Baldy.
Aspect: North, South, West
Elevation: 11,000-12,000

Weather: Nearby Cinnamon Weather station at 12,293ft recorded westerly winds averaging 25 to 15mph from 6am until noon. In the afternoon clouds were hanging on the peaks and there was absolutely no wind. A nice blue hole in the clouds rolled through for about an hour followed by overcast sky for the rest of the afternoon.
Snowpack: About 3″ of snow had accumulated from the recent storms on Wednesday and Thursday morning. The westerly wind was strong enough to drift that little bit of new snow about and create some wind texture on upper elevation exposed terrain.

The old October snow is variable in both its location and current type. In many areas that snow has been melted away or very wind effected with tightly packed small grains. Both of these setups posed the leased concerns. That old October Snow is concerning in areas more protected from the sun and from the wind events in late October/early November. In those areas, the old snowpack is faceted and weak, especially the NSF development in the upper 10-15cm of the old snow. This weak snow will take little load to become an avalanche problem in the future. South to Southwest to West at ~11,600ft. The October Snow is either completely melted away or a 5-15cm melt-freeze crust on the ground. Of particular note, the portions of these slopes that were shaded by tree stands held pockets of a weak faceted old snowpack.

North to Northwest between 11,600-12,000ft. HS averaged about 50-60cm or around 2 feet. Some areas were disturbed by previous winds and the stacks of old wind slabs and wind-packed grains were less concerning. Otherwise, the snowpack in this area could be generalized as faceted and weak. The 11/20 interface was the most concerning with well developed 1-2mm faceted grains that were already becoming sensitive with the very shallow and soft slab forming over them. A .5cm melt-freeze crust was fairly widespread in this area and may help aid propagation in the future. Shooting cracks were observed on a portion of a 30-33 degree slope at 11,900ft.

Photos:

Location: Kebler Pass Area
Date of Observation: 11/19/2019
Name: Ian Havlick

Subject: Kebler Pass Pre-Storm Observations
Aspect: East, South East, South, South West, West
Elevation: 10,000-12,000

Avalanches:

none.

Weather: Clear skies becoming scattered to overcast mid-afternoon. Light winds below treeline, gusts to 35mph above treeline at 12,000 Scarp Ridge station. Temperatures midday were 33º at 12,000ft. Mild and almost T-shirt in sun.
Snowpack: bare ground on E-S-SW aspects with residual halloween snow hanging on shaded westerlies and northern half of compass. west facing snow was generally baked faceted rounds, with cohesionless facets in the shade and northerlly aspects. Snow depths 10-20cm.

Photos:

Location: Kebler Pass Area
Date of Observation: 11/18/2019
Name: Eric Murrow

Subject: Snow coverage from October storms
Aspect: North, North East, East, South East, South, South West, West, North West

Snowpack: Snowfall from October has been melted to dirt, or at best, patchy coverage for slopes on the southern half of the compass, while the northern half of the compass has held on to a thin, continuous layer. Snow that has persisted on sunny slopes has developed into a patchwork of crusts. The snowpack on northerly facing slopes has been faceting, weakening, and will provide a poor foundation for the incoming storms. I would anticipate some avalanche activity on shaded slopes if the forecasted storms produce over the next week. Below are photos from around the range; take a gander and find the photos of terrain you play in and make note of what the incoming storms will be falling on.  Gallery generally shows terrain from west to east across the forecast area.

Photos: