Northern San Juan

Avalanche

Colin Mitchell · Oct 31, 2019 · Northern San Juan

Weather

Clear skies, light winds and rapidly rising temperatures. Highs of around 40 degrees at pass levels, warmer on the south end of the corridor.

Snowpack

4-6" of new snow at pass level favoring the north end of the corridor. Many north-east-facing paths and slopes were still holding snow from earlier in the month when this week's storm hit. Other areas were mostly bare ground. High winds yesterday morning and early afternoon moved snow onto S-SW aspects. South-west-facing highway paths and anything with a start zone below around 11,500' are already melting out. The exception is the Brooklyns, where we are starting to build a snowpack in the gullies. High elevation slopes, especially on the north side of the compass, are still holding plenty of snow. The deepest snowpack is in wind-loaded and/or deeply shaded areas, like couloirs and gullies. The snow cover diminished rapidly south of Silverton, with only a couple of inches on the ground south of Molas Pass. The forecast warm-up and dry spell will probably melt out many areas near and below treeline, but is unlikely to have much of an effect above treeline with the exception of steep, sun-exposed slopes.

Avalanche

No avalanche activity observed