Northern San Juan
AvalancheAnn Mellick · Feb 8, 2020 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Mild temps and mostly sunny with some high thin clouds through the day. After 36+ hours of strong NW flow, the winds dramatically shifted to the SW this morning, moving lots of snow...
Snowpack
Time, warmth and wind settled and stiffened recent storm snow, making it markedly "slabbier" today than during the storm. Winds rapidly backed from NW to SW this morning and continued through the day. This generated lots of blowing snow and loading onto northeasterly terrain above treeline. Saw one slide that looks to have been triggered by these winds. Winds have filled and smoothed even very deep gully features while stripping exposed ridgelines. The strengthening sun triggered some minor roller balls on sunny slopes and made for squeaky skiing. No signs of instability where we traveled, but we avoided suspect terrain...
Avalanche
Very few naturals considering the 24" storm total combined with the relentless fierce winds.