Details

• Date: 2020/03/02

• Observer: Matt Huber
• Organization: Forecaster, Colorado Avalanche Information Center

Location

• BC Zone: Aspen
• Area Description: West Willow

Weather

• Ridgeline Wind Speed: 5-10 mph
• Ridgeline Wind Direction: SW
• Wind Loading: Light
• Temperature: 10 F
• Sky Cover: Overcast
• Depth of New Snow: 23 cm
• Depth of Total Snow: 100 cm
• Most Significant Precip Rate: S2 - 2 cm/hr
• Weather Description: Snow showers continued most of the day, with a few moments of isolated sunshine that made it feel very warm, springlike and stuffy. Minimal evidence of wind-drifting below 12,700 feet, and the only noticeable wind-effect was at or just below ridgelines higher than that, pockets of 30-50 cm soft slabs quickly dissipated once I dropped off ridgeline

Snowpack

• Snowpack Description: Very minimal signs of instability in the new snow, shooting cracks were seen only on ridgelines and in the highest elevations, traveling less than a few meters in front of me. On a southeast facing slope near treeline, the snowpack was about a meter deep. A fragile crust had already developed in the new snow during a break in the clouds this morning, with several centimeters of new snow resting on top. Hard, propagating Extended Column tests failed on remnants of a crust/facet layer about 30 centimeters from the ground

Avalanches

• Avalanche Description: Very small, loose dry point releases in steep cliffy terrain and a shallow 15 centimeter soft slab from the Baldy Headwall. 12,700 on an east-facing slope

	Date	Location/Path	#	Elev	Asp	Type	Trig	SizeR	SizeD
	2020/03/02  †	Willow Creek	1	>TL	E	SS	N	R1	D1
Date: 2020/03/02 (Estimated) Observer: Matt Huber Organization: Forecaster, Colorado Avalanche Information Center Area Description: Baldy Headwall Landmark: Willow Creek

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