MEASUREMENTS OF SNOW TEMPERATURE DURING RAIN

Measurements from a spatial array of thermistors set in a natural snowpack are used to track the progress of the O·C isotherm during two rain on snow events. Zones that are at DOC are assumed to contain liquid water and the profiles show details of the patterns of water infiltration into snow. The patterns were different during each event. In one case the development of vertical drainage structures was slow. Water was diverted laterally at stratigraphic horizons and the maximum depth of penetration was less than 15 cm during the first hour of rainfall. In the other case the snowpack was more homogeneous and grains had coarsened. Vertical channels evolved through a part of the snowpack and less water was diverted laterally. Water penetrated 50 cm during the first hour and drainage through the full depth of the snowpack was established rapidly