Submitted by Public (not verified) on Fri, 01/10/2020 - 16:21
Location Name: 
North aspect of top of ridge around 5900 feet
Region: 
Silver Valley Area
Location Map: 
United States
47° 27' 14.652" N, 115° 40' 23.9736" W
See map: Google Maps
US
Date and time of observation: 
Wed, 01/08/2020 - 13:09
Observation made by: 
Public
Red Flags: 
Whumphing noises, shooting cracks, or collapsing
Recent loading by new snow, wind, or rain
Snowpit Observations
More detailed information about the snowpack: 

 

 

 

Kyla and I dug an Extended column test on a north facing aspect at about 5900 feet. Our pit was approximately 150 cm deep and the probe at the ground was around 230 cm. (Total snow depth was 230cm) The extended column test failed on 13 taps with a shear quality of Q2 on a layer of new snow that had a different density than the storm layers beneath it.

 

ECT13Q2 @ 20cm

We continued the ECT after the first failure and had no failures until after 30 taps. After hitting it four or five more times very aggressively and pulling the pack forward with my shovel, the entire pack fell to the ground with different layers clearly apparent. The failure at 150cm was on faceting. 

 

We also observed a prevailing eastern wind which we thought was uncharacteristic of the area. We also saw a shooting crack that had propagated to the ground from the skin track that was probably 20 feet long. It was not located in avalanche terrain. 

Any other comments about the observation or links to outside pages that have more info on the observation: 
Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
Yes
Cloud Cover: 
75% of the sky covered by clouds
Air temperature: 
Below Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Strong
Precipitation: 
Snow
Air temperature trend: 
Static
Wind Direction: 
East
Accumulation rate: 
Less than 1 in. per hour
More detailed information about the weather: