Southern San Juan

Snowpack

Grady James · Mar 4, 2020 · Southern San Juan

Weather

Southern winds were enough to keep solar slopes from warming much below the surface today ATL. Clouds overhead in the afternoon also contributed to a moderation of heat, with temps experienced today feeling on the low side of the forecasted range.

Snowpack

HS readings are all over the place N/ATL in southern bowls. Thin spots and rock fields are abundant, while aprons of deeper snow can be difficult to link together for a fluid top to bottom run. MFcr surfaces holding dust and warmed by the sun softened to an early corn consistency but just below lay 10cm of cold dry facets. A stout knife-hard MFcr 20-30cm down is widespread. Above this crust, snow temps sat steady at -2.5c for T10 and T20 readings. Just below the 2cm crust, snow temps drop to -6c. Cold, dry snow sits below this layer. Recent warm temps, a general lack of new snow and the month of March has us thinking of spring skiing, but this hole shows a mid winter snow structure hanging on for the time being.