Professional Observation - John F. Stevens Canyon

Location Name: 
Professional Observation - John F. Stevens Canyon
Region: 
Flathead Range/Glacier National Park - John F. Stevens Canyon
Date and time of observation: 
Mon, 01/23/2017 - 12:00
Location Map: 


Observation made by: Public
Snowpit Observations
More detailed information about the snowpack: 
  • Only a trace to about 1 inch of new snow since 1/19.
  • Crust was supportable on skis until about 5000 feet then became breakable. Near 6000 feet the crust was getting to be pretty thin and one could zipper through on skis without too much trouble.
  • No wind-loading was occurring at the elevations encountered on the tour. And no wind-loading was observed at elevations above 6000 feet.
  • Hasty pit at 5100’ on a 24 degree slope, SE aspect. 75 cm HS (0 cm at the ground). About 2 cm new snow on top of crust. CT 23 @ 67 cm Q3 on a layer of facets just under the crusts formed during last week’s warm-up. Extended Column Test result was ECTX. Depth hoar and other faceted grains in the snowpack were beginning to round.
  • Full profile completed at 6000’ on a 28 degree slope, E aspect (profile attached). HS was 128 cm with about 3 cm of new snow on top of the crust from last week. At this location this crust was a single, thin (~1 cm) layer, P- hardness. Multiple layers of faceted grains within the snowpack and the depth hoar at the base were beginning to round. CT 14 Q2 @ 114cm on a layer of rounding facets and CT 24 Q2 @ 97cm on another layer of rounding facets. ECTN 24 and ECTN 26 on these same layers respectively.
  • No recent avalanche activity observed.
Snowpit or crown profile photo or graph: 
Any other comments about the observation or links to outside pages that have more info on the observation: 

Toured on the ridge above avalanche paths known as Burnout, Shed 4D, and Shed 5. Dug a hasty pit in the upper starting zone of Burnout. Then continued up to about 6000 feet and completed a full profile on the ridge just north of the upper starting zone of Shed 5. Descended the same route.

BNSF AVALANCHE SAFETY FIELD OBSERVATIONS SUBMITTED TO FLATHEAD AVALANCHE CENTER AND GLACIER NATIONAL PARK ARE BEING PROVIDED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS SPECIFIED IN THE GLACIER NATIONAL PARK SPECIAL USE PERMIT.  

THESE OBSERVATIONS REPRESENT SITE SPECIFIC INFORMATION INTENDED FOR THE BNSF AVALANCHE SAFETY PROGRAM AND IN NO WAY ARE TO BE CONSTRUED AS A PUBLIC/ RECREATION AVALANCHE FORECAST.  

Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
No
Cloud Cover: 
75% of the sky covered by clouds
Air temperature: 
Below Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Light (Twigs in motion)
Precipitation: 
Snow
Air temperature trend: 
Static
Wind Direction: 
Northeast
Accumulation rate: 
Less than 1 in. per hour
More detailed information about the weather: 

Skies alternated between broken cloud cover to fully overcast with occasional very light snowfall (S-1). Light winds from the E or NE or sometimes calm. Temperatures in the low-mid 20s °F. Pleasant weather.

Activity: 
Skiing
Precip Rate: 
S -1; very light snowfall, trace to 0.5cm/hour
High Temp. (C): 
-4
Low Temp. (C): 
-5