Northern San Juan
AvalancheJeff Davis Ann Mellick · Jan 16, 2019 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Around 12 inches of new snow fell in the Red Mountain Pass area since Monday night. Temperatures were mild, light snow with moments of S1 and very little wind at lower elevations. Pleasant Snowy day.
Snowpack
Small sluffs were observed on steep slopes, specifically below rocky outcroppings. The new snow was low density even with the warm temperatures. On sunny slopes a crust exists below the new snow and the snow was not sticking well to that surface. Northerly slopes below treeline are getting deep and over 1.5 meters of snow was observed in a quick test pit. Test pits on North and East facing slopes below treeline did not show signs of propagation propensity in Extended Column tests. Weak layers continue to persist near the ground, they are just getting buried deeper as the snowpack grows. No cracking or collapsing observed today.
Avalanche
Most of the avalanches observed were small sluffs from tree bombs and snow falling off rocky features. In a quick break in the clouds we did observe a few R3D2 avalanches on Red 2 and Red 3.