Northern New Mexico

Moderate avalanche danger exists at all elevations.  Dry loose snow avalanches from the 2 to 3-feet of recent low-density snow are able to run long distances entraining more snow as it moves downhill. Sluff management is essential as even a smaller avalanche could have serious consequences if it sweeps you off your feet above a cliff or pushes you into a terrain where snow can pile up.  Diurnal winds have seen speeds pick up slightly at night and with an abundance of snow available for transport watch for soft wind slabs that formed at upper elevations on the leeward sides of ridgelines and in cross-loaded terrain.  Pay attention to shooting cracks on the surface and obvious wind-drifted pillows or a stiffening of the surface.  These newly formed wind slabs may be sensitive and able to propagate across terrain features.   

Not a bad way to start February and say goodbye to an overall warm and dry January.  Storm totals are 28 to 36 inches of snow with 1.25 to 1.5 inches of SWE, which equates to very light low-density snow! Today will be another beautiful day in the Land of Enchantment, with sunny skies, light winds, and warming temperatures that should climb into the 20's and low 30's. If you're getting out it may be a good idea to bring some glob-stopper as the combination of warm temps and the intense sun this time of year could lead to many transitions between wet and dry snow.   

  Much of the avalanche activity over the last several days has been loose snow avalanches in steep terrain as winds have been fairly tame during and the days after the storm. Most slopes that I've gotten on have lacked any cohesive slab and instabilities are only the loose dry snow.  With that being said diurnal winds at night have ticked up into the teens and 20's at upper elevations which is why we are leaving wind slabs as a potential problem above treeline.  Explosive control work has produced pocketed results at these elevations with only size 1 avalanches.  Look for subtle changes to the stiffness in the snow surface and heed the warnings of bulls-eye clues like shooting cracks and loud audible collapses.  

Over the high-pressure period of January with dry warm days and cold clear nights, the upper portions of the old surface were faceting in the top 20 to 30 cm of the snowpack.  Whether it was entirely facets or around crusts or firm wind slabs these weak layers are now buried from the recent storm and may become problematic down the road as mid-pack facets.  What were missing on most slopes right now is a cohesive slab on top for these persistent weak layers to potentially become more reactive.  These mid-pack facets bare watching, especially if the winds pick up or we see settling stiffening slabs as it doesn't look like much snow is forecasted in the next week.    

The deeper persistent slab problem that we typically deal with in these parts this time of year has mostly remained unreactive since the last big avalanche cycle New Years Day. Facets and depth hoar near the ground on northerly aspects still linger, but it doesn't appear that the added weight of this last storm tip scales on its own.  There is still some uncertainty about how this persistent weak layer would react to the added stress of a rider though.  Before this recent storm snowpack depths varied greatly and it was areas where the overall snowpack was shallower that these deeper weak layers were less insulated and more likely to be triggered.