Southern San Juan
AvalancheChris Bilbrey · Apr 4, 2024 · Southern San Juan
Weather
Warm, sunny, and a steady southerly breeze above 11,000 feet.
Snowpack
Today's wind did little to slow down surface wetting, and the top 4 to 6 inches were wet clusters. Below that was a fairly supportive layer/ snowpack at upper elevations. This likely prevented things from totally falling apart. Wednesday was the day for natural wet snow slides from recent snowfall getting wet. Today offered more of a human-triggering threat. The Loose Wet avalanches we triggered today were shallow, but they ran fast and far. By early-afternoon, we easily punched into knee deep wet snow near rocky outcrops, cliffs, and near ridgelines where overall snow depths were much shallower than on open slopes. Today felt like the first day of "starting early, finishing early". Lots of water pooling in low spots along CR 124. Creeks are up, but wouldn't call them raging.
Avalanche
A lot of wet snow action on Wednesday. SE-S-SW ATL, E-S-W NTL, and E and W BTL. Southerlies BTL had the least amount of action, while W N/BTL was the biggest producer - a few slides approaching D2. Too many slides to code, but the most notable one's coded below.