Northern San Juan

Snowpack

Ann Mellick Chris Bilbrey · Jan 13, 2022 · Northern San Juan

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Weather

Sunny and very warm for mid January. The temperature on Red Mountain Pass (Swamp Angel) topped out at 52 Fahrenheit today and all alpine weather stations showed temps well above freezing.

Snowpack

The snowpack continues to settle and become less reactive with time. The December snowfall has densified into a roughly 1 meter thick firm slab. This sits on basal facets on shady slopes. The basal weak layer is becoming less reactive with time, though the less-than-ideal structure persists. Warm temperatures today moistened surface snow on all sunny slopes all the way up into the alpine.