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Thin Coverage, Good Stability, and December Corn

Location Name: 
Old Ski Bowl, Grey Butte
Region: 
Mt. Shasta
Date and time of observation: 
Mon, 12/18/2017 - 10:00pm
Observation made by: 
Forecaster

Location Map

96067 Mount Shasta , CA
United States
41° 23' 1.8996" N, 122° 12' 10.9872" W
See map: Google Maps
California US

Snowpack Observations

Details

Coverage above the gate on the Everett Memorial Highway is getting thin. A few patches of bare road were exposed today. Two trees have also fallen down, but are easily passible. A good trail made for an easy ride to the base of the west face of Grey Butte, where the height of snow ranged from 40-60cm. Above 9k in the Old Ski Bowl, snow height ranged from 80-100cm. Our snowpack is an isothermal mass that has refrozen solid. It is comprised almost entirely of melt forms  - clustered rounded grains and melt freeze crusts. These dominate the snow surface form as well. Wind eroded snow can also be found at the snow surface. Very firm and supportable snow surfaces were widespread throughout the terrain. Snowpack stability was very good today. Southerly slopes below 10K softened with direct sunlight. The corn riding was pretty good by December drought standards.

Photos

  • 40-60cm of coverage on the NW aspect of Grey Butte
  • Tree down on the Everett Memorial Highway on the way to the OSB

Weather Observations

Details

Warm and sunny conditions made it feel like springtime on the south side of Mount Shasta today. High temperatures hit the mid 40's between 7-10k. Moderate northwest winds were observed - much calmer than expected.

Statistics

Cloud Cover: 
Clear
Blowing Snow: 
No
Precipitation: 
None
Accumulation rate: 
None
Air temperature: 
Above Freezing
Air temperature trend: 
Warming
Wind Speed: 
Moderate
Wind Direction: 
Northwest