Northern San Juan
SnowpackGarrett Lund · Mar 25, 2013 · Northern San Juan
Weather
The weather that day was clear and relatively calm (winds 5-10mph). Temperatures were in the low 20s and possibly a little lower with wind chill. The two days prior saw heavy winds and some new snow accumaltion. Heavy winds during the storm cycle produced heavy wind loading on a variety of aspects though primarly east.
Snowpack
The snowpack on the aspect where the slide occurred, Southeast, had become relatively consolidated over the last few weeks after warm temperatures. Despite this consolidation and shift towards an isothermic snowpack the last storm (few days prior) brought serious windloading ontop of a suncrust. This suncrust interface provided the ideal surface for the new, loaded storm snow to fail.