Northern San Juan

Avalanche

Josh Hirshberg · Apr 25, 2017 · Northern San Juan

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Weather

HN 7cm @ 9:00 total HST 12cm by 16:00. S-1 most the day increasing to S2 @ 16:00. Obscured skies w/ short-lived broken skies @ 12:15. Winds shifted from SW to NW in late afternoon and became strong

Snowpack

Old 4/24 surface was frozen on most slopes, but varied from smooth to rough. Steep 40° terrain showed poor bonding @ 4/24 interface. Storm snow was high density. Warm temps through the day kept it sticky and promoted rapid settlement.

Avalanche

We triggered a few very shallow and short running Loose avalanches in the storm snow on steep slopes over 40°