Northern San Juan
AvalancheBill Nalli Sandy East · Feb 23, 2020 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Light southwest wind and a break from snow in AM. Light snofall resumed around 2pm as the wind shifted to the NW and increased to moderate speeds. 5" new snow out of wind drifted areas by Sunday morning and 3"-4" new during the day Sunday mostly as the wind shifted and cold air moved in.
Snowpack
The first couple inches of heavy density snow bonded well with old snow surface. No slabs seen even as the PI increased in afternoon. 6"to 10" HST, right side up. Very little wind effect below treeline made for generally LOW hazard. Once near and above treeline, more wind effect could be seen but still no slabs were observed. Likely due to just not enough new snow. As the winds shifted to the northwest the density of the surface snow began to increase slightly. I expect much more of a slab in wind exposed locations by morning. Below about 10,500' the warm temps and stronger sun have helped to round and strengthen the pack on east through south through west. Northerly slopes still have a shallow weak pack. Crust/facet combinations are still alive and well on southeast from about 11,000' and above. They are less fragile on southeast now than a few weeks ago but still present with weaker snow sandwiched between. See snow profile and pic. Loose snow was easy to initiate on slopes steeper than 38 degrees by late in the day but did not propagate and did not pack a very big punch.
Avalanche
No slabs seen in areas travelled. Loose new snow on slopes steeper than 38 degrees travelled slowly but ran far until slope angle lessened.