Wind Slabs
- Hochgebirge
- Waldgrenze
- Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
- Wahrscheinlichkeit
- Possible
- Größe
- 1–2
The possible rating reflects the uncertainty on how much snow will actually fall. The best plan is to monitor how deep wind deposits become. The old snow surface (melt freeze crust) is a great reference point. As wind slabs become deeper, avalanches can become larger. The wind can deposit snow 5 times deeper or more than the accumulated storm snow.
Most wind slab avalanches will be small. The chances of triggering a large avalanche are slim but not out of the question. Isolated terrain features may collect enough wind transported snow to build large slabs. Wind slabs tend to form on lee slopes below ridge tops, and other features that accumulate wind blown snow.
Cracking in the new wind slab and recent avalanches are good indicators that you can trigger an avalanche. Wind slabs are most sensitive to triggering when they are fresh.
Archive photo
Cracking in wind drifted snow on a convex roll