Northern San Juan
AvalancheJeff Davis · May 11, 2019 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Partly cloudy skies, warm temperatures, and strong spring sun. Beautiful spring day in the Mountains.
Snowpack
Around 8" of dry snow observed at upper elevations. The new snow settled rapidly with warm temperatures and as the sun shined on slopes. Multiple small Loose Wet natural avalanches observed below steep rocky faces. We also triggered a few small avalanches. One avalanche was dry in a shady couloir. While on a steep open sunny slope the avalanches were wet and gained mass as they traveled downhill. The avalanches were running on a dirty brown layer that was likely the snow surface in late April. This layer is now buried in the top 50 cm of the snowpack. All the avalanches observed were harmless unless someone was to take a ride above consequential terrain.
Avalanche
Multiple small Loose avalanches observed today. In general..... dry sluffs up high and in steep shady slopes. Wet the lower you go and easier to trigger on slopes steeper than about 35 degrees.