Northern San Juan
SnowpackBill Nalli · Apr 19, 2020 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Intermittent scattered snow showers in between breaks in the clouds. Temperatures fluctuated between 25F during snow squalls to 35F during clearings.
Snowpack
Saturday night's snowfall added up to about 2 inches in the areas travelled. By early afternoon the sun had shrunk that to 1 inch. Relatively warm temperatures are helping the new snow bond to the recently formed crust below. This along with the low amount of new snow is inhibiting loose-wet avalanches on sunny slopes. Only rollerballs were seen on steep southerly facing slopes. If the sun gets more exposure time some small loose-wet slides are likely on slopes steeper than 38 degrees especially near rocky terrain that amplifies the warming. Shallow wind slabs near ridges were less sensitive than in recent days, but still present and a potential threat in areas that received the most snow over the last three small storms. HS on southeast-facing slopes in this zone ranges from 100cm to 50cm. The solid crust below the new snow is softening but the large poly-crystals closer to the ground are compacting and not likely to fail with future warming.