Northern San Juan
SnowpackBen Capelin · Jan 6, 2013 · Northern San Juan
Weather
A clear, cold post storm day brought light south east winds to higher elevations, without windloading or other snow movement. Clear skies and a warm sun quickly warmed southern aspects creating sun crusts on previously windloaded areas. Northern aspects remained cold and unaffected.Temperatures hovered in the mid teens.
Snowpack
Like much of the San Juans the snowpack consists of drifted snow resting on a thick layer of extremely unstable depthhoar that slides to the ground without much coaxing. Snow movement has created shallow windslabs in ravines and leeward sides of features. All windblown aspects had little or no snow, rendering navigation difficult. The increase of wind activity had created harder slabs on S/SE aspects solidifying the surface layers, but increasing the potential for larger, more destructive slides. Northern aspects remain very unstable and were subjected to more windloading without the opportunity to settle.