Northern San Juan
AvalancheAmy Pertuz · Mar 19, 2021 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Patchy clouds in the morning cleared for a bluebird day in the alpine with light winds, high radiation, and above freezing temps above treeline. A more significant warmup than Thursday, with prolonged periods of above freezing temperatures and intense sunshine in the alpine.
Snowpack
In the the alpine, the structure varies greatly in the terrain, and old windslabs and eroded areas can be found underneath recent snows. The storm snow has undergone significant settlement in the last few days, especially near and below tree line. Most surfaces became wet or moist and wet loose activity picked up significantly today, becoming more widespread in sunny aspects and beginning to show up more in the alpine. High Northerlies remained fairly dry mid day, but were thickened by above freezing ambient temperatures. Below tree line, sun affected aspects had clear signs of drainage runnels and were becoming cohesionless in places. Only the shadiest northerlies below tree line contained dry snow. Good skiing but changing fast.
Avalanche
No new slabs seen in RMP corridor today. A recent large D2.5 slab in Bullion king basin NE aspect ATL is presumed to be the one reported by Barney on 3/15.