Persistent Slabs
- Alta montaña
- Límite del bosque
- Bajo el límite del bosque
- Probabilidad
- Possible
- Tamaño
- 2
Very weak sugary or faceted snow near the ground is widespread across the region, and people could trigger avalanches where a slab of more cohesive snow has formed on top of the weak snow. A small avalanche overrunning a slope with poor snow structure could cause a larger, more dangerous avalanche. The load of the new snow may be enough in some areas to overload deeper buried persistent weak layers that are widespread across the zone, and large avalanches could result.
- Avalanches failing on a buried persistent weak layer might be triggered remotely, from a distance, or worse from below!
- Cracking and collapsing of the snow are a red flag, indicating unstable snow conditions.
Still finding propagation in snow pit tests Thursday on an east-northeast facing slope at 8400' in the backcountry on the backside of Beaver Mountain. This layer could easily be reactivated by the new load from today's storm.