Northern San Juan

Avalanche

Ann Mellick Jeff Davis · Jan 28, 2022 · Northern San Juan

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Weather

Sunny, but quite chilly with a steady north wind in the alpine.

Snowpack

The roughly 3 inches of fresh snow from weak storms on Tuesday and Thursday helped refresh the snow surface, but has not changed the avalanche hazard. We did find some localized pockets of fresh wind slab (2"-4" thick) where northerly winds drifted the recent snow, though these were not of great concern. It has been about a month since the snowpack received significant new load. While the hazard remains overall Low, the snow surface continues to weaken. We were able to initiate small (D.5) dry loose sluffs in steep northerly terrain near and below treeline.

Avalanche

Small Loose Dry avalanches easily triggered on steep shady slopes near and below treeline.