Southern San Juan

Snowpack

Mark Mueller · Feb 3, 2019 · Southern San Juan

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Weather

At 10:00; 5.5" of new snow with 0.7" of water content. At 1:30, 2-2.5" of additional snowfall. Temps in the 20s at Pass level. Strong SW winds, but no wind data available (instrument riming?). Snowfall eased as the afternoon progressed, but strong SW winds continued.

Snowpack

The new snow failed very easily on near surface facets (E aspect near TL) formed during the recent dry spell. Just a few signs of instability- isolated minor cracking on an E aspect near treeline and isolated minor collapsing on southerly aspects associated with recent melt-freeze crust formation. New snow seemed to bond well to the melt-freeze crust (SE below TL)