Northern San Juan

Avalanche

Ann Mellick · Dec 1, 2019 · Northern San Juan

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Weather

Sunny with high clouds. Calm winds at pass level.

Snowpack

Despite ample snowfall in the last storm, the snowpack along the 145 corridor remains thin at this time. However, paths continue to fill and are mostly snow-covered. Yellow Springs Wall still has lots of surface roughness and cannot support flows to the hwy at this time. Snow on southerly slopes will likely settle/ melt down quite a bit with the next couple days of sunny and mild weather. New snow settled ~5" today. Snowpack structure is pretty simple: thin layer of basal facets (~5cm) with snow from recent series of storms on top. Easy failures at interface between basal facets and slab. Surface hoar topping snowpx in paths south of Rico. Weak.

Avalanche

Only some harmless rollerballs and very small sluffs in steep rocky terrain.