Northern San Juan
SnowpackJohn Snook · Feb 27, 2011 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Broken, then overcast. S-1 started around 11am. Less than an inch accumulation by 3pm. Winds south at ~10 mph, then shifting to west around 2pm and lighter.
Snowpack
Highly variable - a foot+ of new snow on Fri nite/Sat morning. Very wind effected. Fresh drifts near treeline on primarily N aspects up 2 feet deep. Did not get much above treeline, but snow surface quickly changed to hard wind slab as we got above the trees. S aspects still had some melt-freeze crust exposed in areas that were scoured by wind. Noticeable settling of surface snow since yesterday, seems to have lowered av danger a notch below treeline. Hast pit near treeline, N aspect. HS 229 cm, likely wind enhanced. Top 5cm 1F- hardness (soft slab), minimal cracking, no propagation, 21cm layer of softer 4F- hardness underneath. Then a thin hard layer. CT11-RP@10cm down. On steeper N aspects, snow would sluff easily with ski cuts, but only new snow. Feel like av danger is down to MOD below TL, and trending down near TL.