Northern San Juan
SnowpackAnn Mellick · Mar 17, 2022 · Northern San Juan
Weather
The day began overcast with heavy snowfall. Clouds began to break by 10 am, but light flurries continued into early afternoon. The ambient temperature stayed cool.
Snowpack
Roughly 4" of new snow fell in this area. However, northerly winds built localized drifts 12" to 18" deep. The new snow did little to change the hazard, though it did add a nice refresh to the surface. The strong March sun quickly began baking the new snow down on sunny slopes. A snow profile on an east aspect near treeline revealed our all-too-familiar snowpack structure of firm slab sitting on weak mid-winter facets. A long column test showed no failure (ECTX), but the slab did fail at the late Feb storm/drought interface with 13 taps.