Southern San Juan
SnowpackChris Bilbrey · Nov 24, 2021 · Southern San Juan
Weather
A nice return to winter with fresh snow and cool temperatures. We found 4 to 5 inches around 11,000 feet and upwards of 8 inches above treeline. Drifts on northerly-facing alpine slopes were 12 to 14 inches thick. Skies were clear and sunny to start, then transitioned to scattered skies by 1:30 pm. Light snow flurries around 2 pm that didn't amount to additional accumulations.
Snowpack
Last night's snowfall delivered a nice surface refresh without overloading the snowpack. We saw little evidence of drifting in the near treeline band, but the snow felt denser and wind-pressed as we climbed into the alpine. Newly formed slabs were soft, but we noted minor cracking where drifts approach a foot deep. While our snowpack test did not yield propagating results (ECTN 10 and 16), fresh storm slabs contributed to consistent failures (CT SC 11 and 16) on northwest and north aspects in buried facets ranging from 1 to 3 mm in size. This suggest that where slabs are slightly thicker or stiffer than where we evaluated them, weak snow below is capable of failing from additional weight or load. Despite limited snowfall during November, northerly-facing slopes above treeline are starting to become more connected and the threat of slope wide weak layer formation is more of a reality than before this recent storm.