Northern San Juan
SnowpackColin Mitchell · Mar 15, 2020 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Broken skies with periods of sun and overcast throughout the day, generally clouding over by mid-afternoon. Temperatures hovered around freezing for most of the day at pass level with light southerly winds.
Snowpack
Storm totals were 15" Molas and Coal Bank, and 9" on Red. The new snow fell mostly on crusts in highway paths. Mostly cloudy to overcast skies kept radiation at bay for most of the day. Surprisingly little wet activity on Red, hardly a rollerball. Cloudy skies and warm temperatures helped settle out the modest snow amounts in this zone. The morning sun hit paths on Molas and especially Coal Bank, and triggered dozens of D 0.25 sluffs that ran to the ditch. Nothing made the white line. These slides were wet surface snow gouging into dry to moist snow beneath. Cloudy skies tonight will keep the snowpack warm, and we could still some activity on these passes tomorrow.