Loose Wet
- Hochgebirge
- Waldgrenze
- Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
- Wahrscheinlichkeit
- Possible
- Größe
- 1–2
Ground-hog day … again. Clear overnight skies and near-freezing temperatures at lower elevations led to another good refreeze of the snow surface last night. Sunny skies and temperatures climbing again into the upper 40s around 10,000’ will melt the surface and produce similar loose-wet avalanche conditions that we have seen in previous days. Pay attention to your aspect and how wet the upper snowpack is becoming. Even a relatively thin layer of wet surface snow on top of a crust can lead to consequential slides on steep slopes, especially if they funnel thru a couloir or gully feature or end in a depression. The attached video that was taken 2 days ago is a good example of this potential. Deeper less supportable wet snow can be even more dangerous, so time your ascents and descents before this happens.
Recent Observations
-4/9 – Rock Creek – East Slopes above Davis Lake: High cloud cover and snow moistening.
-4/8- Virginia Lakes- surface warming on solar aspects, Basal facets on northerly aspects
-4/8- Mammoth Area- surface warming, small loose wet activity on the backside of MMSA
-4/8- McGee Creek- Loose-Wet Avalanche Near miss on Nevahbe ridge