Northern San Juan
AvalancheChris Dickson · Dec 1, 2024 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Calm, warm, blue sky day.
Snowpack
The snowpack here, while weak, seems to be slowly adjusting to the modest load put on it by the 11/25 storm. Prior to the storm, there was little snow at lower elevations, and at higher elevations there was only about 12-16 inches on the ground. Due to warm temperatures and abundant sunshine, the new snow from 11/25 fell on melt-freeze crust on many slopes. In a snowpit near treeline on an east-facing slope, I got a moderate propagating result in an extended column test where the melt-freeze crust sits atop well-developed facets. I did not observe any cracking or collapsing in the area where I dug the pit. While the structure of the snowpack here is poor, the rapidly deteriorating slab of new snow indicates the snowpack will likely be entirely faceted before the next snowfall, whenever that may be.
Avalanche
The steep east face of Expectation Mountain produced three different storm slab avalanches with crowns only about 6 inches thick. These likely released during the peak of the storm.