Professional Observation
Basic Information
Observation Details
Observation Date:
December 2, 2020Submitted:
December 2, 2020Observer:
TAC - Andy BondZone or Region:
Taos AreaLocation:
West Facing SlopesSigns of Unstable Snow
Recent Avalanches?
None ObservedCracking?
IsolatedCollapsing?
IsolatedSnow Stability
Stability Rating:
FairConfidence in Rating:
ModerateStability Trend:
SteadyBottom Line
Small wind drifted slabs on west aspects above treeline. These slabs range from soft to hard "hollow" sounding slabs. Lots of shooting cracks and whumpfing when you step onto the slab.
Media
Advanced Information
Weather Summary
Cloud Cover:
Partly CloudyTemperature:
8 - 15Wind:
Calm , NWPartly sunny day, with calm to light winds and didn't notice any new snow transporting. As I write this it looks like light flurries over portions of the mountains in the afternoon. Felt warm in the sun and very cold in the shade.
Snowpack Observations
Went to check out the recent 2 to 4" overnight and wind loading from E and NE winds overnight on west aspects. Found a mixed bag of wind slabs from hard supportable drummy sounding slabs on small features that were cross-loaded. Soft slabs that were 8" thick in isolated pockets that were easy to observe. When we'd touch those slopes we would get shooting cracks and loud audible collapses but couldn't produce avalanches on test slopes. I would suspect you would need a steep slope (over 38 degrees) to get a small pocket to pull.
We're becoming a facet factory with our snowpack quickly faceting with the cold clear nights and overall shallow snowpack. We could easily push cohesion-less snow down the slope today creating small loose snow sluffs.
Avalanche Problems
| Problem | Location | Distribution | Sensitivity | Size | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wind Slab
|
|
Obvious wind drifted slopes ATL on west aspects. Slabs were 8 to 12" thick and couldn't get slabs to move other than loud collapses and shooting cracks |