Northern San Juan
AvalancheJeff Davis · Mar 9, 2020 · Northern San Juan
Weather
A mixture of sun and clouds. Temperatures mild but very springlike when the sun was out. Winds calm with small gusts above treeline.
Snowpack
6"-8" of new snow observed in drifted areas at upper elevations. Like many spring storms the higher you traveled in elevation the more snow that appeared to accumulate. The new snow is sitting on a firm surface, and bonded well to shady slopes. On sunny and lower elevations slopes, warm temperatures and moments of sunshine quickly settled the new snow. By late afternoon it was hard to tell that it had snowed at all from the roadside. In the morning, low elevations slopes had refrozen but the refreeze broke down in the afternoon.
Avalanche
Lots of long running Loose sluffs observed in the new snow on sunny slopes in the afternoon. Steep sunny above treeline cliff bands were the most likely areas to observe this problem.