Eric and I made our way to the Gray Rocks area to conduct the monthly snow survey. The road to Castle Lake still only contains one very narrow lane to the Methodist camp. The gate is still closed. 

Weather trends:

• Sky cover was mostly clear with some passing clouds. Temperatures remained quite cold through the morning, rising above freezing in the afternoon. Winds were surprisingly light out of the north.
• Around one to two inches of new snow blanketed all aspects. The new snow is relatively low-density.

Snowpack observations:

• Southerly aspects contained a series of crusts, the most prominent being at the surface. All southerly terrain had about one inch of new snow on top of a very firm crust, making travel and skiing slightly unpleasant.
• Northerly aspects were significantly softer. Though still containing a slight surface crust, soft snow can still be found in the most shaded of areas. 
• The new low-density snow remained mostly cold and dry, and beside the most sunny of aspects beginning to warm.
• East facing terrain features still held some variable surfaces due to wind effect.
• Slight cracking was observed between ski tracks. Some old avalanche debris was still visible on north and east facing aspects. Beside the cracking, no significant signs of instability or recent avalanche activity was observed. 

On the way out, the one lane road had melted into large stretches of pavement between snow patches. 

• Observation Location: Gray Rocks
• Elevation: 6,200 feet
• Date: 20230326
• Time: 1200
• Observer: S. Clairmont, E. Falconer
• Sky Conditions: Few (FEW) 
• Current Precipitation: Type - NO
• Air Temperature: 25 °F
• Total Snow Depth (HS): 160 in (406 cm)
• 24-hour New Snow Depth (HN24): 2 in (5 cm)
• Wind Direction: NW
• Wind Speed: Light (L), 1-16 mi/hr, twigs in motion

Three of us set out to observe snowpack conditions in the Cliff Lake area. A cold morning quickly warmed with elevation gain due to a noticeable valley temperature inversion. Sky coverage remained broken throughout the day. Weather was inconsistent, with periods of moderate snowfall, followed by warm and sunny skies, then switching back. Winds remained light out of the northwest, increasing to a steady moderate at ridgelines and exposed slopes. Temperatures were unseasonably cold, staying below freezing all day. 

The most obvious observation was the large variability in snow surface conditions throughout the entirety of the Cliff Lake area. The wind has really done some work here. All slopes have some form of wind skin, crust, sastrugi type, or snow drift across it. Some more exposed areas held shallow, hollow, wind slabs that were reactive to ski cuts on steep slopes. These wind slabs remained isolated to terrain feature, and slope angle. Large cornices have grown on all ridgelines. Particularly, south facing cornices have become as large as small cars. Wind transport was observed depositing onto all southerly aspects.

Compared to other recently observed areas across Mount Shasta, this zone saw very little new snow. There was some variability due to wind, but generally there was about two inches of new snow on top of firm old snow. 

Surface hoar was noted low down near Cliff Lake, and near surface facets were found in isolated north facing terrain.

There was an impressive amount of avalanche debris on north, east, and west facing aspects. Most steep slopes have shed recently, in the form of wet loose or some type of slab. 

 

• Observation Location: Cliff Lake
• Elevation: 7,200 feet
• Date: 20230325
• Time: 1400
• Observer: S. Clairmont, N. Meyers
• Sky Conditions: Broken (BKN)
• Current Precipitation: Type - SN, Rate - S-1
• Air Temperature: 20 °F
• Total Snow Depth (HS): 147 in (373 cm)
• 24-hour New Snow Depth (HN24): 1 in (2.5 cm)
• Wind Direction: NW
• Wind Speed: Light [(L), 1-16 mi/hr] to moderate [(M), 17-25 mi/hr]

Observations from the northwest face of Gray Butte from 2pm to 4pm

Weather trends:

• Cloud level was around 6,500 feet. 
• In the parking lot of the ski park, sky cover was around 75%, temperatures were above freezing, and surface snow was dense and saturated.
• At the top of Gray Butte, the sky was 100% obscured, temperatures remained cold, with light winds out of the northwest, and the snow remained cold and dry.
• Light snowfall continued throughout the outing, which turned to graupel near the end of the day.

Snowpack observations:

• Near the summit of Gray Butte, there was around five to six inches of new snow. Above 7,000 feet, the new snow appeared cold and dry, and relatively low density. Below 7,000 feet, a surface crust formed from saturation of the upper couple inches of snow.
• Near treeline, there was some minor surface wind texture across exposed slopes and ridges, however, wind transport was not observed.
• Upon shovel shear tests, weak layers were identified at the new snow old snow interface (5-6 inches down) and at a slightly deeper saturated snow layer (10 inches down). 
• No avalanches or slab characteristics were observed today, however, ski cuts did cause some dry loose sloughing. 

• Observation Location: Northwest face of Gray Butte
• Elevation: 7,700 feet
• Date: 20230323
• Time: 1500
• Observer: S. Clairmont
• Sky Conditions: Obscured (X)
• Current Precipitation: Type - SN, Rate - S-1
• Air Temperature: 24 °F
• Surface Penetration: Ski penetration (PS) = 5 in (12 cm)
• Total Snow Depth (HS): 6 in (15 cm)
• 24-hour New Snow Depth (HN24): [?] in ([?] cm)
• 24-hour New Snow Water Equivalent (HN24W): [?] in ([?] cm)
• Wind Direction: NW
• Wind Speed: Light (L), 1-16 mi/hr, twigs in motion