Wet Slabs
- Hochgebirge
- Waldgrenze
- Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
- Wahrscheinlichkeit
- Likely
- Größe
- 2–3
Monday will be the 4th day of above-freezing temperatures and significant rain accumulation (up to 1.5 in of water). This combination will continue to weaken our snowpack across the Mt. Hood zone and create a wet slab hazard. Prior to this rain, known weak layers such as buried surface hoar existed- specifically at lower elevations below treeline. These could be layers that avalanches fail on, if they have not already. Our upper elevation starting zones will continue to get soaked with over an inch of water, which could produce very large avalanches that are capable of running into lower elevation canyons. These wet avalanches are incredibly hard to forecast for and manage, so just avoid all areas where avalanches can start, run, or stop.
You should also watch out for other wet avalanche problem types, such as wet loose avalanches in steep terrain. These slides are often less destructive, but can still create trouble in the wrong terrain.
As water continues to percolate deeper into our snowpack, very large avalanches could release off the upper mountain and run far into lower elevation drainages.
Photo: Peter Moore