Observation: Turnagain

Location: Seattle Ridge

Date:
Observer:
Route & General Observations

Seattle Ridge up-track

 

Red Flags
Red flags are simple visual clues that are a sign of potential avalanche danger. Please record any sign of red flags below.
Observer Comments

One whumf at 2,000' - stopped and dug, 4-5" of weak old snow near the ground collapsed

Weather & Snow Characteristics
Please provide details to help us determine the weather and snowpack during the time this observation took place.
Weather

Partly cloudy with valley fog. No precipitation. Temps in the mid 20's F. Winds calm.

Snow surface

Crazy snow storm last night.... 12" low density snow in the DOT weather station parking lot but only 6-7" on the ridge. We are quite sure that this is true despite the winds. There was minor to moderate wind effect on Seattle Ridge but looking across to Magnum and Sunburst it seemed they got less snow and more wind - scoured ridges.

Snowpack

Storm snow seems to have bonded well with preexisting surface at treeline and below.

Lower elevations - 1,900': Bottom 4-6" of snowpack has patches of weak snow near the ground

Top of treeline - 2,300': Weak layer of facets and buried surface hoar from Nov 16th. This layer was 18" below the surface. See video

Photos & Video
Please upload photos below. Maximum of 5 megabytes per image. Click here for help on resizing images. If you are having trouble uploading please email images separately to staff.