Southern San Juan

Sunny with cool temperatures and little to no wind.

On south to west-facing slopes, the new snow sat over a firm but breakable crust. The sun was already warming these slopes, and there were rollerballs on the slopes below treeline by the afternoon. These slopes were highly variable in coverage--some slopes were wind stripped, others had 40 inches of new snow, and some slopes were bare ground by the afternoon. The sun is having the most significant impact on these solar slopes as we approach spring. On north to east-facing slopes, the new snow from this week came in waves. This new snow is mostly breaking within the storm snow layer about 8 to 12 inches below the surface, above wind-stiffened snow early in the storm. However, some of these avalanches are breaking deeper in the old snow at the near surface facets sitting below the storm snow from 2/14 and 2/16. Additionally, the avalanche I remotely triggered appears to have stepped down into an even older layer of snow.