Submitted by Public (not verified) on Sat, 02/20/2021 - 11:28
Location Name: 
Blue Mtn. SW Aspect
Region: 
Selkirk Mountains
Location Map: 
United States
48° 23' 41.6616" N, 116° 38' 53.088" W
See map: Google Maps
US
Date and time of observation: 
Fri, 02/19/2021 - 12:00
Observation made by: 
Public
Red Flags: 
Whumphing noises, shooting cracks, or collapsing
Recent loading by new snow, wind, or rain
Snowpit Observations
More detailed information about the snowpack: 

At this lower elevation, the snowpack showed signs of stability and healing. Overall depth at 5800' was about 125 cm. There were many layers present, including the hard ice crusts left over from January, but none seemed explosive during the ECT test. ECTH23 only propagated 1/2 shovel width at a layer 30 cm deep in the pack (95cm from ground). While skinning back to the Schweitzer T-Bar on the west aspect, observer noticed some isolated whumphing in areas with sparser tree coverage. The whumphs were quiet, but noticeable, radiating in the ~3m range. They did not depress nor show visual cracks - this was likely due to low slope angle. Whumphing was heard at an elevation of ~5900'.

Any other comments about the observation or links to outside pages that have more info on the observation: 

See attached PDF for brief snow profile scan.

Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
No
Cloud Cover: 
100% of the sky covered by clouds
Air temperature: 
Below Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Light
Precipitation: 
None
Air temperature trend: 
Warming
Wind Direction: 
West
Accumulation rate: 
None
More detailed information about the weather: 

The cloud ceiling lifted slightly on 2/19 east of Blue Mountain, but it was still low (estimated 5500', varying throughout the day). West of Blue Mtn., the low cloud ceilling remained at time of observation.