Northern San Juan

Snowpack

Jeff Davis · Mar 29, 2024 · Northern San Juan

Weather

Mostly cloudy with strong southwest wind. Temperatures felt brisk at upper elevations and in the wind, but much warmer lower down. Brief periods of light flurries.

Snowpack

All low elevations slopes and sunny slopes at upper elevations had a melt-freeze crust. The crust was most pronounced below treeline but softened with the warm ambient air temperature. Blowing snow observed on ridges and off high peaks, but with the strength of the wind, the moving snow was not effectively loading slopes. Some surface stiffening observed in exposed areas near treeline. Minor cracking observed in wind-drifted areas but did not travel on slopes steeper than 35 degrees. Digging on a northeast open slope around 10,700' a melt curst is slowly breaking down under 30 cm of new snow. There was a hand-hardness change above and below the curst but was not able to get anything to fail in compression tests. Digging near-by in a more protected northerly slope a layer of facets observed under the most recent snow. This layer also was not reacting in snowpack tests. Monitoring both these layers with more snow and wind in the forecast over the next few days followed by a rapid warm-up as they could be the development of a new PSa in the upper snowpack.