Surface hoar in St Regis Basin
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Location Name: East side of Lookout Pass Ski Area Region: St. Regis Basin Date and time of observation: Fri, 12/25/2020 - 14:00 |
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Location Map: United States
47° 26' 45.6108" N, 115° 43' 14.556" W
See map: Google Maps
US
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Red Flags: |
Observation made by: Public
Any other comments about the observation or links to outside pages that have more info on the observation:
There was a large area of 6-10mm surface hoar in an open, low sloping, E aspect at 4800 ft elevation. The hoar was already laying flat, and already in the shadows of area peaks.
I also received 2nd hand reports of 2.5cm+ standing hoar observed on Wed 12/23 just below Lower St Regis Lake. Given the approximate location, it could be from 5200-5600 feet elevation with a N aspect.
By 4:00PM when we closed the ski area dark clouds were forming. The nearby Lookout Snotel site reported 4" of new snow between 9:00 PM Friday and 7:00 AM Saturday. Snotel reported that the temperature flirted with 0 deg C, but the basin is often colder than the location of the snotel due to katabatic breezes, so there's a good chance the hoar didn't melt before it started snowing. The status of the hoar just below St Regis Lakes prior to the snowfall is not known, but given the higher altitude and sheltered location, it's probably still there as well.
This confirms the St Regis basin had the widespread surface hoar mentioned in Friday morning's forecast, and that it's quite possible it was covered before it melted. Something else to keep an eye on!
