Wind Slabs
- Alpine
- Treeline
- Below treeline
- Likelihood
- Possible
- Size
- 1–2
Snow totals came in on the lower end of the forecast (2 inches at the Mt. Bachelor base), with light to moderate southwest winds. At Todd Lake, the open glades skied decently well, with some "dust on crust" conditions and some deeper drifts where the older snow had remained cold and soft. Winds were calm to light out there, and I did not observe any signs of instability on Saturday.
Although we'll be experiencing a brief break in the stormy weather, temperatures have remained cold and there has been enough wind to move the snow around at higher elevations. On Sunday, small wind slab avalanches will be possible on lee slopes that have received wind-transported snow. This will mostly be at upper elevations, in open terrain that can catch blowing snow (such as bowls and below ridgetops). While I would expect these wind slabs to be relatively small, they could propagate farther than expected in areas where the new snow is sitting on top of surface hoar that developed last week.
Monitor the depth of new snow drifts over older snow (in some places, there will be an obvious crust layer), and look for signs like shooting cracks or whumping to indicate "strong over weak" -- in this case, a wind slab over a surface hoar layer. If you see any indications of instability, move to lower angle terrain.