Wind Slabs
N
NE
E
SE
S
SW
W
NW
- Hochgebirge
- Waldgrenze
- Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
- Wahrscheinlichkeit
- Possible
- Größe
- 2
People could trigger wind slab avalanches today, especially in exposed terrain at upper elevations and probably also on some drifted mid-elevation slopes facing the northern half of the compass. Wind slab avalanches could fail on a preexisting layer of weak surface snow. Wind slab avalanches up to 2 feet thick might fail on this layer where it exists. Soft new wind slabs will form in and around terrain features during today's storm
- Avoid steep slopes with thick and/or stiff deposits of recently wind-drifted snow.
- New snow is likely to hide them, but wind slabs often are smooth and chalky looking, and they can sound hollow, like a drum.
- Cracking is an obvious sign of instability.
- Soft wind slabs of drifted new snow might be quite sensitive to human triggering, while hard, older wind slabs can be devious, sometimes allowing people to get well out on them before releasing suddenly, like a mousetrap.
