Loose Wet
- Hochgebirge
- Waldgrenze
- Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
- Wahrscheinlichkeit
- Possible
- Größe
- 1
Loose wet avalanches will become possible once daytime warming melts through last night's refreeze. Some of them could be small. Some could be large enough to have more serious consequences, especially on long, steep, sun-exposed slopes. Areas with terrain traps could magnify the severity of this problem. Wet surface snow, pinwheels, and roller balls can foreshadow larger loose wet avalanches.
A frozen snow surface can give way to shallow wet snow on a supportable crust (corn) to deep, unsupportable, sloppy, wet snow in a short amount of time. In many areas, the snow may skip over the corn state today because it has not been through enough melt-freeze cycles. Watch for these changes and time backcountry travel to be off sun-exposed slopes before the deep wet snow forms. Exploring more northerly aspects to find areas where softer cold snow still lingers could also reduce exposure to loose wet avalanche concerns.