Recent storm snow shows limited to no slab characteristics. Slopes have connected snow coverage above, near, and below treeline. Most existing snow has fallen during the past two storms, and weaker snow from previous storms near ground level is limited. While the snowpack for the region is above average for this time of the year, early-season hazards persist in the form of shallow buried rocks, down logs, and stumps. Cracking is limited to the vicinity of ski pressure and one outlying collapse was observed in an area of deadfall.

North of Wolf Creek Pass

NE Lobo Overlook

The snowpack consists of an average of 60-100cm near treeline with about 35cm of recent storm snow sitting on top of layers from the previous 3 storms. The general snowpack is right-side-up, with two harder layers. The first is a pencil-hard melt-freeze crust above the basal layer and the second a finger-hard melt-freeze crust that is breaking down above the second storm snow layer. Both layers are thin (2-3 cm). CT results provided broken results within the new storm snow and moderate planar results at the pencil and finger hard layers. None of these layers provided propagating results during an ECT.

The majority of the snow from Storm #4 fell at the onset on November 5th in the vicinity of Wolf Creek Pass. Incremental loading since then has accounted for around 1.6 inches SWE on nearby SNOTEL stations. Current conditions on November 7th were generally calm winds with light scattered snowfall and impaired visibility above treeline.