Loose Wet
- Alta montaña
- Límite del bosque
- Bajo el límite del bosque
- Probabilidad
- Possible
- Tamaño
- 2
Increased winds should slow some of the melting that occurs today, but they will not cause enough cooling to prevent the strong March sunshine and warm daytime temperatures from forming a deep layer of wet snow on sun-exposed slopes today. Loose wet avalanches involving this wet snow will become possible once last night's refreeze melts. Most of the loose wet instabilities that do occur should consist of small roller balls, pinwheels, and point releases, but some larger loose wet avalanches that entrain enough snow to cause problems for backcountry travelers could still occur. Slopes steeper than 35 degrees on sun-exposed E-SE-S-SW-W aspects at all elevations will hold the best potential for loose wet activity since they should experience the most warming, but some of the lower elevation NW-N-NE aspects could also see enough sun for some wet snow issues to form.
Sinking into wet snow above your boot tops and small surface instabilities like roller balls, pinwheels, or point releases can provide clues that enough wet snow has formed for loose wet avalanches to become an issue. Once deep wet snow exists on a slope, changing aspects to find more frozen slopes or moving onto lower angle slopes off and away from slopes 35 degrees or steeper represent wise choices. Terrain traps like gullies, creeks, and cliffs can greatly increase the risk of any size loose wet avalanches.