Loose Wet
- Alta montaña
- Límite del bosque
- Bajo el límite del bosque
- Probabilidad
- Possible
- Tamaño
- 1
Air temperatures were warm last night, generally in the 40s for most mid and upper elevation locations. A thin superficial refreeze will likely have occurred overnight on open slopes due radiational cooling under clear skies. Below treeline, the snow surface may not have refrozen at all last night under areas of dense forest canopy. The Carson Pass area was colder last night and may have had a bit better of a refreeze. Regardless of if overnight refreeze was poor or decent, rapid warming today will allow for a loose wet avalanche problem to develop quickly on all aspects at all elevations. Avalanche size up to D2 is possible (large enough to bury or injure a person).
Monitor snow surface conditions as the day progresses. Pay attention to supportability of melt-freeze crust at the snow surface. Pick an area not compacted by previous tracks and punch a hole in the crust to gauge crust thickness. Compare surface crust thickness on open slopes to areas under dense forest canopy in order to get a sense of the overall strength of refreeze in the area. Once melt makes the surface crust marginally supportable to unsupportable, loose wet avalanches are possible. Human triggered roller balls are also a sign of potentially unstable snow. Avoid travel in or below avalanche terrain on slopes with marginally supportable to unsupportable wet snow conditions or on slopes where roller balls are occurring.