Northern San Juan

Snowpack

Bill Nalli · Feb 2, 2020 · Northern San Juan

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Weather

Warm and calm in the morning shifted to warm and windy in the afternoon. Southwest wind picked up by noon and by 1pm plumes could be seen transporting snow onto northerly aspects.

Snowpack

Southerly facing aspects have a fragile crust near the surface with off aspects (southeast and southwest) holding weak snow above and below it. The crust is widespread in all areas exposed to the sun but as soon as the aspect changes slightly more north, or tall trees block the sun's rays, the surface is just low density, recrystallized powder. Areas with direct sun today got moist and it feels like we are transitioning from a winter to spring snowpack regime. Still plenty of weak dry snow in areas that dont see the sun near and below treeline.