Southern San Juan
SnowpackKrista Beyer · Mar 19, 2024 · Southern San Juan
Weather
Day started off warm, clear and spring-like. Around 1pm clouds bearing precipitation in the form of graupel rolled in. Skies began to clear again around 330pm.Columbus Basin (10,785ft) hit a high of 38 degrees at 1pm on 3.19.2024 and 37 degrees around 2 pm on 3.18.2024. The 18th was the first day that showed above freezing temperatures at that weather station since the storm. Temperatures remain below freezing for majority of day (16 hrs).
Snowpack
I dug on an east-southeast aspect below treeline and a northeast aspect near treeline. New snow below treeline has settled and melted to about 10 inches on southerly aspects. In my pit location, a pencil hard 15 cm thick melt-freeze crust provides a barrier between the new and old snow. A fist-hard weak layer sits below a dense pencil-hard slab, which may become problematic when freezing temperatures diminish overnight. No instabilities were observed during pit tests. Near treeline, new snow has settled to about 20 inches. A density change midway in the new snow provides a layer for some pit test and ski test instabilities. Pit tests received broken results with no propagation, and ski testing was limited to small sluffing of the top 15cm isolated to steep terrain (38 degrees and over). In both pit locations, the two dust layers that have served as a question mark for instability under the new storm load proved unreactive.