Northern San Juan
SnowpackAnn Mellick Jeff Davis · Apr 6, 2020 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Beautiful, sunny spring day with mild temps down low. However, very windy and cold with cutting windchill above treeline.
Snowpack
Snow continues to settle (roughly 1"/day) and transition to more spring-like with mostly sunny skies and warming temperatures. Sunny slopes below treeline are, of course, the farthest along in their evolution. We found firm and supportive snow midday on south and southeast slopes near treeline. Warming affects are cumulative so we anticipate decreasing snow strength and increasing danger later in the day as well as later in the week with continued warm temperatures. It is likely that this will expand to east and westerly terrain in the near treline band as well. Southerly slopes above treeline remained cold and very firm due to strong winds in the alpine today. While we did find evidence of recent wind loading on north and northeast terrain above treeline, we did not find a reactive wind slab.