Northern San Juan
AvalancheAmy Pertuz · Jan 11, 2023 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Blustery conditions most of the day eased into the afternoon. Temperatures cooled from the warm day before. Strong north and northwest wind was moving limited amounts of snow into specific lee features but blowing snow was not widespread.
Snowpack
The snowpack ranges from a meter and a half to over two meters deep here, and the 12/27 persistent weak layer averages 130cm below the surface in this area. The slab from the holiday storm has settled and the weight of this slab is helping to strengthen this weak layer. I was not able to initiate failures in this layer in compression tests or extended column tests. A faceted temperature crust 50cm below the surface was failing in tests but producing resistant planar failures and does not appear to have a stiff enough slab over it (fist and 4finger) to be reactive.
Avalanche
No new avalanches to report. The avalanche reported in a prior observation in "Bollywood" on the NW ATL face of Red 3 ran mid/late in the day on the 10th and illustrates how sensitive upper elevation slopes are to wind-loading