Choice comments from today's Utah Avalanche Center report
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How will that kind of sludge affect avy conditions?
Marc_C
Active member
Normally it would be quite a concern, due to the sudden added weight. But since it fell atop rain/temperature softened snow, it should bond fairly well. More importantly, the rain removed the danger of a weak layer under the new slop. Another excerpt from today's report:jamesdeluxe":1p7g1m6y said:
Sharon
New member
In my quest for good news, I found this in the NWS discussion:
QUITE AN INTERESTING OPPORTUNITY FOR HEAVY SNOWFALL OVER
THE MOUNTAINS SUNDAY...AS FRONTOGENETIC FORCING MAXIMIZES DOWNSTREAM
OF THE DEEPENING UPPER LOW. GFS BUFKIT PROFILES SHOW A DEEP MOIST
ADIABATIC LAYER...WITH GOOD OMEGA THROUGH THE DENDRITIC SNOW GROWTH
LAYER.
QUITE AN INTERESTING OPPORTUNITY FOR HEAVY SNOWFALL OVER
THE MOUNTAINS SUNDAY...AS FRONTOGENETIC FORCING MAXIMIZES DOWNSTREAM
OF THE DEEPENING UPPER LOW. GFS BUFKIT PROFILES SHOW A DEEP MOIST
ADIABATIC LAYER...WITH GOOD OMEGA THROUGH THE DENDRITIC SNOW GROWTH
LAYER.
Sharon":2p9iitl7 said:
wow you paint a pretty nice picture of what the conditions are like in the east. most base depths are in the 30" range. We've got 78" mid mtn at Alta.
1 storm with 20% snow is hardly an issue. Its only more base...remember us locals dont have to go ski it...we can wait!
Sharon":1de3eoj0 said:
That was from the UAC's weather page. Lot's of water, if only a few degrees colder.
Oh, and I'll be out there with a few friends tonight through Sunday. We originally booked a place in Ogden since we liked Snowbasin so much, but with the snow levels so high we changed plans and are staying in Sandy and skiing LCC.
Is it me or does all this talk about snow levels and 20% snow feel like the PNW/Tahoe/SoCal? First time in UT when I even thought about the snow level.
Can someone explain to this Wx amateur what "five inches of water weight" means? It can't mean the equivalent of five inches of rain.
jamesdeluxe":3uezm0jn said:
Water=Snow. Depending on factors which I don't completely understand (temp, humidity, etc) you get different densities. If you get 10% snow, 1 inch of water weight would be 10 inches of 10% snow, 5% snow would be 20 inches of snow per 1 inch of water weight and so on. Hope that makes sense.
mammothsnowman
New member
Here in Mammoth I pray for snow like that!
Marc_C
Active member
As socal explained, essentially, yes, that's exactly what it means.jamesdeluxe":47teigxd said:
The amount of water in the snow varies because of the difference in snow crystal structure. Snow which forms and falls in colder temperatures is typically fluffier because the snow crystals grow lots of branches. These branches allow for lots of air to be trapped in the snow pack. Snow which falls at warmer temperatures gathers a lot of cloud droplets on the crystals, which cause them to collapse the branches, reducing the amount of air trapped in the snow pack.socal":47teigxd said:
So going back to james' question, which would you rather ski: 5" of water distributed in 5 feet of snow, or the same 5" of water in only a foot of snow?
Marc_C":ypmr1cgd said:
While I'm not prepared to answer that question, do I get points for knowing what a dendrite is?
Sharon
New member
Skidog":2we1fcxi said:
30" is a lot for many ski areas here in the east...we don't have the deep craggy and sharp rocks that there are out west. It's just different geomorphology.
I've got 8" of snow on my lawn and the skiing has never been so consistently great here.
I know that skiing the Wasatch will be a nice change of scenery and will keep me plenty entertained...it just sux that the year I take 2 weeks to go to Utah it is a low snow year out there and a great snow year at home.
Sharon":3498p8rg said:
It is? News to me. News to the National Weather Service, too. Snowbird's snowpack is at 119.8% of average:
http://www.cbrfc.noaa.gov/snow/snowlist ... 1&ss=SBDU1
Be careful about making uninformed statements.