Northern San Juan
SnowpackSusan Hale · Jan 16, 2013 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Previous 24 hour North winds did some major damage in the alpine - affecting ALL aspects - even south. High winds moved snow in unpredictable ways, skirting terrain features and redistributing snow in odd areas - alternating hard slab and bare rock. Even windward (southerly) aspects lost snow. Today the winds were still moving snow in the alpine till late morning. Otherwise weather was mild and sunny.
Snowpack
Winds have left us with HIGHLY VARIABLE conditions everywhere, but most dramatically in open areas near and above TL, where we saw alternating thick hard slabs and wind crusts over facets (E and SE aspects) - all determined by terrain features or forest cover. Experienced shooting cracks in the hard-slab in low angle terrain near TL (and in some open exposed areas that are technically BELOW TL. E - SE aspects well below TL were not quite as bad - protected E aspects remained cold, weak top-to-bottom faceted snow while surfaces on sunny slopes were warming and sticking to skins. Observed one SS avalanche likely wind triggered on NE aspect in the SAMS proper. See avalanche obs. Regarding solar above TL - wind kept surfaces cooler.