Northern San Juan
AvalancheColin Mitchell · Jan 20, 2020 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Bluebird start to the day with strong inversions in place in the valleys. Clouds moved in late morning, and the sky was overcast by midday with darker clouds building on the southern horizon. Temperatures warmed quickly while climbing, and were near freezing at 11,000 feet by 11 am.
Snowpack
Warm temperatures over the last couple of days formed surface crusts on all but the shadiest aspects. Friday's snow continues to settle and consolidate, and was approaching 1f hard in most places. Buried near-surface facets at the old snow/new snow interface were still easy to find probing with a ski pole, but were less reactive than this past weekend, with only a few tiny isolated collapses and some very small areas where the slab cracked and shifted downhill, but didn't avalanche. Still, the concerning structure led us to stay away from nearby open, wind-loaded N-NE-E slopes near-treeline, and stick to the trees.
Avalanche
No new activity observed