Northern San Juan

Snowpack

Susan Hale · Mar 27, 2014 · Northern San Juan

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Weather

Snowfall intensity decreased early this morning and remained showery most of the day. Filtered sunshine popped through occasionally - just enough to leave a very slight crust. Winds continued in the moderate to strong range till mid-morning with some visible dust remaining in the air. (Heaviest dust event was yesterday afternoon.) Temperatures have remained cool all day.

Snowpack

Along RMP found various depths of new snow between 6" on windward aspects and up to 18+" on leeward and northerly aspects. Within the new snow is a distinct dust layer - found approx 3-4 inches from bottom of new snow. This wind driven snow is slabby with a sometimes flour like consistency that moved sluggishly with mitigation on an E aspect. Hand pits on SE aspects showed fair bonding of old/new. Hand pit on N-NE aspects were more likely to shear at old/new interface and occasionally at the dust. Both the dust layer and the interface of the old/new snow have shown a propensity for slide activity. See below.