Northern San Juan

Avalanche

Ann Mellick · Mar 3, 2014 · Northern San Juan

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Weather

Mild, calm, puffy clouds and very spring-like. Strong March sun made it feel much warmer than thermometer readings reflected.

Snowpack

Lots of settlement over the past 24 hours (-4" on RMP). Extensive surface sluffing and roller balls on sunny slopes, especially in rocky terrain. Crusts up to 1/2" forming on sunny slopes as well.

Avalanche

Widespread avalanche cycle from Feb 27-March 2 storms demonstrated that the snow structure remains weak on most aspects and elevations. Deep instabilities lurk. While many slides only involved storm snow, others were quite deep and involved most of the season's snowpack. Debris piles were impressive.