Northern San Juan

Avalanche

Troy Nordquist Krista Beyer Rebecca Hodgetts · Apr 11, 2024 · Northern San Juan

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Weather

The nearby Gold Hill weather station reported a temperature of 31°F at 2:30 PM. The west-southwest winds were clocked at 17 mph with gusts of up to 31 mph. The maximum temperature for the day was 32°F at 4:00 PM. The skies were clear and brilliantly blue.

Snowpack

The snow structure in Colorado is often complex, with many layers. This case was no exception with the upper two-thirds comprised of melt forms, while the basal layer consisted of fist-hard rounding depth hoar. Compression tests indicated instability above the topmost dust layer, but the basal layers were the most concerning.

Avalanche

Wet loose activity was observed on west-facing South Lookout Peak and in Spring Gulch.