Loose Wet
- Alpine
- Treeline
- Below treeline
- Likelihood
- Possible
- Size
- 1–2
The snowpack continues to go through a cycle of melting during the day and partially refreezing during the night. How fast the snow becomes deep, wet, and unsupportable depends on how fast the overnight refreeze melts. Last night's refreeze should have been decent, but strong sunshine, slightly warmer temperatures, and less wind today should still cause the refrozen crust to melt and turn into wet snow. Once it melts it will also expose the unfrozen wet snow below it resulting in a deep layer of unsupportable wet snow. People recreating on steep slopes could cause this wet loose snow to start sliding downhill. These sluffs of wet loose snow would start small but could grow larger as they move downhill and gather more snow. Some wet loose avalanches could entrain enough snow to pose a threat to backcountry travelers especially on long steep slopes or in areas with terrain traps where small avalanches can have bigger consequences
Timing your day to go up and down before the wet snow forms and changing aspects to chase the supportable snow before the refreeze melts represents one strategy to avoid potential wet loose avalanches. Once deep wet snow exists, travel on lower-angle terrain without steep slopes above is another way to minimize exposure to wet loose avalanches. Either way, watch for signs of wet snow instabilities like rollerballs, small sluffs of wet snow, or areas of unsupportable wet snow. Be willing to adjust your plans as conditions change.