Northern San Juan
AvalancheJeff Davis Ann Mellick · Mar 16, 2018 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Cloud cover quickly cleared. Winds were moderate near and above treeline and temperatures were mild.
Snowpack
~ 6 inches of new snow fell in the past two days. Moderate southerly winds drifted snow onto leeward slopes, and drifts were observed to be up to 2 feet. The new snow started warm but finished cooled leaving very low-density snow on shady slopes. The new snow would slide off very steep rocky slopes and at lower elevations were the melt-freeze process was underway earlier in the week. The new snow stuck well to slopes that were not that steep. In the afternoon the sun quickly warmed the new snow on sunny slopes. Only cracking was observed in the new snow and no collapsing.
Avalanche
Small pockets of drifted snow were easy to trigger on the right slopes.