Detailed Observation
Date | 2020-12-24 |
Location | Valdez |
Observer | Gareth Brown |
Avalanche | N |
General Observations
12/24- Loveland Basin up to ~3700′. North through east aspects, 26° F at the road/ overcast/ moderate ridge top winds creating light to moderate snow transport/ no precipitation turning to light snow later in the day.
Shooting Cracks: Yes
Collapsing: No
Avalanches:No
Found 2 feet of settled storm snow since 12/21 in protected areas. In areas exposed to wind, new snow had been redistributed into soft (fist hard) windslabs on the lee side of ridge lines up to 4 feet deep. These were reactive just below ridge lines with shooting cracks up to 10 feet long . This instability was not widespread on lee aspects at this time, but rather only existed just below ridge lines at this location. Hand shear tests produced moderate-hard results in protected areas with easy results just below ridges. Pit results at ~3200’/ north aspect/ produced ECTN2 down 10 cms and ECTN14 down 45 cms, HS 210cms. A hard smooth plane existed 85cms down, but showed no reaction. Didn’t travel above 4000′ due to flat light.