Northern San Juan
AvalancheAmy Pertuz · Nov 19, 2020 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Another very warm day, temps above freezing right up to tree line, with breezes much less rude than yesterday, steady out of the SW. The breezes helped hide the warm temps and high solar input. Sunny and clear.
Snowpack
The last few warm days have rapidly whittled away the snowpack, with many higher elevation south and east aspects starting to become bare again, and thinner conditions overall on below tree line northerlies. HS on a northerly aspect BTL was averaging 65cm at 11,000ft, 80cm near tree line. Recent storm snow has settled a lot and has been unreactive where I have travelled this week. The strong westerly winds messed up surfaces in the alpine and created some new isolated wind lenses, but overall the alpine snow had a chance to settle a little before the wind blew and a lot of the coverage up high remains. In a N/NE alpine basin, snow was highly variable in height and texture, with some 1.5m lenses of hard snow adjacent to 65 cm of soft. Large,continuous windslabs were not found in the alpine. A quick pit on a NW aspect near tree line showed three prominent layers, 18cm of 2mm 4F depth hoar, a 40cm 1F- midpack of small rounds, and 18cm of settled storm snow from last weekend which is undergoing near surface faceting. ECTX on the depth hoar. No crusts or signs of surface warming seen on northelies above 10,900ft, though signs of surface warming even into the alpine was evident on most other aspects. Good skiing on northerlies near and below treeline where enough coverage exists, but it’s getting scrappy out there.
Avalanche
No recent activity visible anywhere in the zone. No cracking or collapsing.