Wind Slabs
- Hochgebirge
- Waldgrenze
- Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
- Wahrscheinlichkeit
- Likely
- Größe
- 1–2
The incoming snow will be cold, light, and easily moved by the wind. The wind on Friday had a lot of variability in speed. Some areas experienced light winds while the wind was cranking in other areas. The weather forecast has wind speeds in the sustained 25 mph range and wind slabs will continue to build in some areas.
The bulk of the wind slab problem will be above treeline and near treeline but continue to look for signs of blowing snow and wind slabs below treeline, especially in clearings and areas with dead trees. Wind slabs typically form below ridges and high points. The wind wrapping around north and south aspects can cause cross loading. Use visual clues such as wavy surface texture and pillowy drifits as an indicator of where this problem is present. Previous avalanches and cracking in wind deposited snow are indicators that wind slab avalanches can occur.
Wind can pile up snow many times deeper than the snow dropped by the storm. As wind slabs become deeper, avalanches can become larger.
Archive photo.
Cracking in wind slab is a good indicator that wind slab avalanches can happen.