Northern San Juan
SnowpackAnn Mellick · Dec 4, 2020 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Sunny, calm, mild.
Snowpack
The snowpack remains quite thin on all but northerly slopes. The current prolonged dry spell is weakening the upper snowpack which will cause problems with subsequent loading. The snowpack on sunny slopes near and above treeline is largely made up of crusts and facets. Some localized lenses of drummy wind slab float above facets in some areas. I triggered one such pocket today (20' x 20' failed, but did not move). These are mainly small pockets and are easy to avoid. The Eagle group remains thinly covered. However, areas that bend more to the east hold more contiguous coverage, with lousy snow structure (see pics), though we are far from having real concerns in these paths due to lack of volume. Overall, poor snow structure across the board will bear watching with our next snowfall.