Northern San Juan
AvalancheAnn Mellick · Jan 30, 2020 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Mostly clear and cold to start. Both cloud cover and wind speeds increased through the day. Overcast with light snow showers by 3 pm. Temperatures remained cool through the day.
Snowpack
Recent snowfall (from 1/27) has mostly settled and few signs of instability have been noted since the small avalanche cycle that ran its course on Jan 27/28. The snowpack remains highly variable depending on aspect and elevation with SE facing slopes continuing to show the weakest structure overall. Sluffs easily initiated with skier pressure on steep shady slopes below treeline. While not overly problematic at this time, the highly faceted snowpack will not handle a heavy load should we receive a significant storm. Northerly winds were on the rise in the alpine today, moving snow along ridge tops onto lee southerly slopes.
Avalanche
No new activity noted along the Hwy 550 corridor since Jan 28th.