Northern San Juan
AvalancheAmy Pertuz · Mar 30, 2022 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Storm total of around 10 inches in this zone came in with light winds. Westerly winds in AM Wednesday backed towards the NW later in the day and increased, but blowing snow was generally light and limited to ridgetop in this location. Skies were mostly cloudy in the am, with clearing conditions in the afternoon.
Snowpack
Storm snow came in warm and bonded well with very little activity of any kind seen in the backcountry surrounding the ski area. The second round of snow was denser than the first, so a little upside down, and some graupel in the mix.
Avalanche
Fresh debris coming off the NNE aspect of Ingram Peak was seen piled above the Ingram waterfall bench, with smaller debris piles below the black bear switchbacks where snow spilled off the abrupt westerly edge of Ingram's NNE face. The avalanche itself was not visible, but with overnight snow not present on the debris and tracks that are visible, this appears to have run on 0330 Wednesday. Scouring on the adjacent ridgeline indicates this slope was loaded from W or SW winds, and very small plumes of wind driven snow were seen loading this feature late in the day, despite an ostensibly NW wind direction. Viewed from a distance.