Northern San Juan
AvalancheSusan Hale Mark Gober · Feb 27, 2017 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Current storm had not really picked up intensity at time of obs -- but strong southerly winds were moving snow at all elevations. (So far, flow has been SE at both the Eagle and Kendall sites and SW at the Putney site on Red 3.) Witnessed these winds actively loading some start zones below and near treeline. Concurrently, convexities were being stripped of some of the recent new snow.
Snowpack
The lower 1/2 of pack is relativley stout after long stretch of warm, sunny weather. The upper pack is our current/immediate concern. The return of winter with two recent storms, cold temps and only brief breaks with sunshine in-between, has created a complicated crust/facet layer cake that may not hold up well with a rapid/heavy new load.
Avalanche
No avalanche activity observed with recent small/incremental storms. Noteworthy are other mitigation reports of very shallow but propagating results from recent cleanup work.