Northern San Juan
AvalancheAnn Mellick · Mar 1, 2019 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Partly cloudy and mild.
Snowpack
The snowpack structure varied depending on aspect and elevation. However all paths along the corridor were in some state of transition towards spring. A pit dug on a SE slope at 9000' maintained distinct layers but was isothermal. More northerly facing slopes were overall more wintry, but T-20 temps in 4 different locations were were all around -1ËšC. All paths also had surface crusts mostly 2-4 cm thick with 1F slab below. Lots of smooth surfaces, so new snow looks to be the initial avalanche problem with incoming storms. The chance of slides stepping down remains in areas that continue to harbor weaker snow. Snowpack is as deep as I can remember seeing it in this corridor...
Avalanche
Lots of surface rollers and a couple shallow loose wet slides with no effect on hwy.