Southern San Juan
SnowpackChris Bilbrey Bill Nalli · Dec 3, 2019 · Southern San Juan
Weather
Calm and clear with high clouds filling in by late in the day. Mild temps were heating the snow surface. All south aspects up to 11,000' will have a crust in the AM.
Snowpack
Warm air temperatures and abundant sunshine have promoted noticeable settlement in the snowpack. We found supportable snow on all aspects and 12 inch settlement cones around vegetation. There is around 2 to 3 feet of snow in many areas with wind-ward facing slopes a mixture of scoured or thin snow cover. Signs of unstable snow were not as obvious as just a few days prior. Southerly and west facing slopes are minus of old October snow at the ground - this is a better snowpack structure if we don't settle into a prolonged period of cold and dry conditions. Northerly and east-facing slopes are still the suspect areas and require the "act of digging" to determine if old, weak facets linger under November snow. Depth and extent of faceted snow under the slab varies. Extended Column Test produced propagating results in multiple test, but force to initiate failures was moderate to hard. This is confirmation that it is still possible to trigger an avalanche in you find a thin part of the slab and able to impact weak snow. Snow conditions in the alpine are firm wind-board and hollow sounding in places.