Northern San Juan
AvalancheAnn Mellick · Apr 3, 2020 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Sunny, but surprisingly cool for early April. Strong winds above treeline continue to move snow in the alpine.
Snowpack
The new snow (~3") did little to change the situation other than to give a little refresh to the surface. Persistent unsettled weather in March and early April has kept the snowpack fairly wintry for this time of year. Paths remain in various stages of transition to more spring-like, depending on aspect and elevation. The sunnier and lower elevation slopes are visibly losing volume. Paths higher in elevation and/or that receive less direct sun are slower to change. A snowpit on a due westerly slope in the Brooklyns was 145 cm and had only melted 50 cm down from the top. (The steeper start zones above the track may be catching more sun and be a little further along.) A nearby southwest facing roll had a 100 cm completely isothermal snowpack.
Avalanche
Strong and persistent southwest winds over the past 36 hours moved quite a bit of snow onto northerly terrain above treeline. Lots of cornice-building and cross loading and a handfull of small, relatively harmless slabs ran as a result.