Wind Slabs
- Alta montaña
- Límite del bosque
- Bajo el límite del bosque
- Probabilidad
- Possible
- Tamaño
- 1–2
Recent storm snow and westerly winds make wind slabs on east aspects a concern for Friday. Wind slabs will not be everywhere, but they will be in specific terrain where wind blown snow is apt to accumulate. Most resulting wind slab avalanches will be small, but they could be large in isolated pockets of terrain.
As the weather clears on Friday, backcountry riders will have more opportunities to get into the high country and onto alpine slopes. Ease into steeper terrain. Look for small cornices and rough, wavy, or chalky surface texture to indicate where wind slabs have formed. If you encounter cracking in wind drifted snow, or observe recent avalanches, that is a good indication to stay off of slopes steeper than 30 degrees.
On Thursday, active wind transported snow was observed from wind exposed ridgetops and several small wind slab avalanches were intentionally triggered on east aspects.