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Taos Avalanche Center

Professional Observation

Basic Information

Observation Details

Observation Date:
December 2, 2020
Submitted:
December 2, 2020
Observer:
TAC - Andy Bond
Zone or Region:
Taos Area
Location:
West Facing Slopes

Signs of Unstable Snow

Recent Avalanches? 
None Observed
Cracking? 
Isolated
Collapsing? 
Isolated
Cracking and audible whumpf's are in obvious wind loaded slopes above treeline on West aspects

Snow Stability

Stability Rating: 
Fair
Confidence in Rating: 
Moderate
Stability Trend: 
Steady

Bottom 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

old tracks still visible but wind effected surface of isolated pockets of wind slabs from firm supportable to soft
Shooting cracks in a small wind drifted pillow
The melt freeze crust 2/3 of the way from the top is quickly deteriorating with the cold temperatures recently becoming
Cohesion-less snow that is easily pushed in steeper terrain

Advanced Information

Weather Summary

Cloud Cover:
Partly Cloudy
Temperature:
8 - 15
Wind:
Calm , NW

Partly 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
Isolated
Specific
Widespread
Unreactive
Stubborn
Reactive
Touchy
D1
D1.5
D2
D2.5
D3
D3.5
D4
D4.5
D5
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
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