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Observation: Twin Lakes Pass

Observation Date
5/7/2024
Observer Name
Bruce Tremper
Region
Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon » Grizzly Gulch » Twin Lakes Pass
Location Name or Route
Twin Lakes Pass - Black Bess and Patsy Trees
Weather
Sky
Obscured
Precipitation
Moderate Snowfall
Wind Direction
West
Wind Speed
Strong
Weather Comments
Cold with ferocious springtime squalls throughout the day with strong, west wind. Perhaps 5 inches of graupel during the day. Quite a snarly day to be out, especially in the upper-elevation wind zone. As my late, Czech mother-in-law used to say in her thick accent, "Springtime is always a fight between winter and summer." Today winter was the clear winner.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
18"
New Snow Density
High
Snow Surface Conditions
Dense Loose
Snow Characteristics Comments
Very impressive amount of snow for May. The new snow depth was hard to judge since the strong wind was blowing everything into drifts but it was about a foot and a half deep on average. New snow is dense graupel and rimed snow, surfy and skis rode on top few inches of snow instead of sinking deeper, which was good because the snow is so dense. Still fun turning, but the ferocious wind and squalls got tiresome quickly.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Heavy Snowfall
Wind Loading
Red Flags Comments
With such strong wind and deep, dense snow, there was certainly a lot of wind transport of new snow into drifts. Surprisingly, even though it felt slabby in places, I jumped on several test slopes and couldn't get anything to crack or move. It seems like most of the new snow fell yesterday and the new snow is so dense that it seized up quite quickly. We skied several rollovers of 35 degrees with nothing moving or cracking. But I was certainly suspicious of steep, wind-loaded slopes and surprised by so little cracking or avalanching.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate
Coordinates