Northern San Juan

Avalanche

Jeff Dobronyi · Mar 23, 2017 · Northern San Juan

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Weather

Below freezing with OVC or OBS skies all day. Strong S'ly winds in AM slowed to LIGHT around noon, which is when snowfall started. S1 all day with periods of S2 and burts of S5. At 6pm, we observed and HN of 15cm, incohesive. At 2100h, HN was up to 25cm, with moderate blowing snow at 11,600'.

Snowpack

At 10:00 am, 11,600', SE aspect, NTL. No new snow yet. Firm, supportable layer 15-20 cm thick at surface did not soften all day. Rest of HS is moist with some strong over weak layering. At 1800h, ski cuts and turns showed no cohesion in HN, which was 15cm at the time. At 2100h we observed average HN to be 25cm, with snowfall intensity S2 and moderate blowing snow around the hut. More HN than forecasted in the Ophir Pass zone.

Avalanche

None observed.