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Tender and touchy Valentine's day facet layer
Location Name:
Forecaster Observation - Big Mountain, Whitefish Range
Observation date:
Wednesday, February 14, 2018 - 18:15
Is this an Avalanche Observation:
No
Observation made by:
Forecaster
Tabs
Quick Observation
Trouble on the horizon...
~6" of new snow accumulated over a faceted crust
At higher elevations, I easily triggered shallow storm slabs (5" thick) on road cuts, failing on the VDay facet layer and running on the crust.
Stability tests showed failures above and below the crust; not propagating in long-column tests (yet).
Snowpack, Avalanche, Weather Images:
Travel Details
Region:
Whitefish Range - Southern (south of Coal Creek)
Route Description:
Road cuts and test slopes near WMR, above 6000 ft.
Activity:
Skiing
Snowpack Details
Snowpack and Weather Details:
Terrain
Elevation of observation:
Above 6500 ft
Aspect(s) of observation:
NE
SW
Red Flags:
Shooting cracks
Persistent Weak Layers:
Buried
New Snow in the past 24 hours:
6.00in.
Total Snow Depth:
240 cm
More comments about the snowpack and weather:
1mm NSF down 6" over a friable crust. No other concerning layers or results in the upper 1m of the snowpack.
Avalanche Details
Avalanche Details:
Date and Time of Avalanche:
Wednesday, February 14, 2018 - 18:15
