Southern San Juan
AvalancheChris Bilbrey · Apr 21, 2021 · Southern San Juan
Weather
Mix of cumulus clouds with a grey blanket of cirrus clouds above. Warm southwest winds were strong enough to keep many surfaces firm, but the top 1 to 2 inches softened in wind-sheltered areas and slopes facing east and southeast by early afternoon.
Snowpack
Snow cover extent at present looks more like mid-May than late-April in the La Plata Mountains. Deepest and broadest snow cover still exist near and above treeline. Water drainage pathways appear established on the majority of slopes as very little fresh wet snow activity observed from more recent warmups. Slopes that face east through south to southwest below treeline are mostly bare ground, but west-facing slopes are surprisingly holding more snow. Moving forward, small wet snow hazards below treeline seem confined to northerly aspects and isolated to steep, open slopes. However, areas of potential wet snow hazard are diminishing as overall snow depth decreases. Snow surface conditions at upper elevations are a mix bag of refrozen or soft surfaces depending on exposure to the wind. North aspects are wind-battered and textured with deeper drifted pockets more isolated than other parts of the South San Juan. Lots of brown snow surfaces from a dust-on-snow event last week. Despite windy conditions today and minimal solar input, areas with a brown snow surface softened by midday contributing to corn-like conditions on near and above treeline slopes.
Avalanche
No new avalanche activity of significance since my last visit to this area. A few small, isolated loose wet sluff piles mostly on northwest aspects below treeline. These were confined to steep, open areas with enough snow cover to support debris flow.