Northern San Juan
AvalancheAmy Pertuz · Mar 11, 2020 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Light snowfall created a fresh skim-coat but otherwise did not accumulate. Winds light from the South.
Snowpack
About an inch and a half of new snow fell, but just underneath, a lot of moist and spongy-feeling snow out there, especially below 11,000ft. Daytime temps were warm enough to create sticky surfaces and small wet- loose slides on E-S aspects below 11,600ft. A decent freeze happened overnight, but moist snow underneath today’s new snow was remaining weak, and lacking cohesion, on E-S-W lower elevation slopes.. West and North aspects held onto colder surfaces, with less evidence of surface warming. Cold snow could still be found on steep North faces. Did not find moist snow on a steep North slope above 10,800ft, but near-surface grains were still somewhat weak and faceted. Skied a N aspect from ATL with good bonding of new snow, no obvious signs instability.
Avalanche
Only dry loose and wet loose seen today, remaining small and confined to the surface snow