Wind Slabs
- Hochgebirge
- Waldgrenze
- Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
- Wahrscheinlichkeit
- Possible
- Größe
- 2
A week's worth of strong winds have transported snow and, in many places stripped some windward locations back to rocks and brush. All of this blowing snow had to go somewhere and there are large drifts of snow on the leeward aspect of ridgelines and terrain features. The hardness of these wind drifts seemed to increase with elevation, which means they are more likely to allow you to get further onto the slope before breaking above you as you gain elevation. Cornices are a sign of fresh wind-loading and there were observations of sensitive and large cornices over the last few days.
Photo of a large cornice on the North Ogden Divide (pic B. Smith). To learn more about wind in the mountains check out Logan forecaster Toby's Blog HERE.