Northern San Juan
SnowpackAmy Pertuz · Jan 27, 2023 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Overcast skies with calm winds and cool temperatures, as another system brought some flurried in the afternoon. The new snow was light and fluffy. Some light winds out of the southwest were occasionally transporting small amounts of snow at isolated ridgetop locations.
Snowpack
HS in this basin ranges from 160 cm to over 200 cm, with variable and thinner coverage in the alpine. Westerly slopes showed signs of light drifting at ridgetop level from recent northeasterly winds, but overall the recent snow stayed where it fell. The drought facets here are buried deeply, 120 cm to 160 cm deep, though west aspects are thinner and with a less robust slab in the midpack. The January 14th facet crust lurks around 60 cm deep and produced mixed results, failing in Compression Tests with clean shears on both east and west aspects but propagating in an Extended Column Test only on an east aspect NTL where the crust was a little thicker. Overall the snowpack is deepening and strengthening here, but shallow spots remain.