Observation: Turnagain

Location: Turnagain Pass Road Obs and Tincan ski tour

Date:
Observer:
Route & General Observations

Drove through to Turnagain to Johnson Pass parking and then toured up standard Tincan route to 2300′

Red Flags
Red flags are simple visual clues that are a sign of potential avalanche danger. Please record any sign of red flags below.
Observer Comments

No recent signs. Road obs revealed more of the natural cycle from 1.26. We went whumpf hunting in a couple spots we thought had buried surface hoar but none were felt.

Weather & Snow Characteristics
Please provide details to help us determine the weather and snowpack during the time this observation took place.
Weather

Light snow, 2 cm fell throughout the time in the field 11-3
Temperatures were in the high 20s, 32 @ truck
E winds were light

Snow surface

4 inches of new snow

Snowpack

4 inches of new snow on wet snow to 1400' See Pit # 1 description

Above 1400' 4 inches of new snow on settled snow from prior storm. Snow depths averaged 150 cm from road to 2300'. Deeper in areas of wind deposition and shallow on windward. Obvious wind effect in exposed areas at and above treeline. Wind features on ridges and micro ridges. Hand pits showed good bonding with surfaces below new snow.

Pit # 1 @ 1100' NW aspect, 22 degree slope, HS 165: Pit depth 120 cm. 15 cm below surface was a wet layer of snow 3 cm thick this was over 3 cm of moist snow with another layer of we snow below. There were obvious runnels connecting the two wet layers.
Jan 13th Buried surface hoar was found 80 cm below the surface. Layer was still obvious in pit wall and 1 cm grains were easy to identify. This layer was not reactive. No notable test results in this pit. Once the wet layers layer freezes it will be interesting to track snow changes around the crusts and monitor potential faceting.

Pit # 2 2200' SW aspect, 24 degrees HS: 210 cm. Pit depth 130 cm. 50 cm of settled storm snow from the Jan 13th-27th over wind crust. Snowpack was right side up. Buried surface hoar found 110 cm below surface. 6-8mm grains. Not reactive, even in a deep tap ECT. No notable test results.

Small test slopes showed no cracking or sluffing.

Photos & Video
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