Avalanche Forecast

Another round of snow and strong winds will impact the area Tuesday night, building fresh wind slabs. The winds will be strong enough to develop new wind slabs at all elevations. Wind transported snow may bond poorly to the freezing rain crust which is the surface in many places. Look for signs of wind transported snow such as cornices, firm or textured snow surfaces, and drifts of snow adjacent to scoured areas. Where you see signs of wind transported snow avoid slopes steeper than 35 degrees.

No observations have been made recently above treeline due to the strong winds and limited visibility. It is possible that very large wind slabs exist at upper elevations. Avoid travel on or below wind loaded slopes above treeline.

Release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.

Wind Slabs form in specific areas, and are confined to lee and cross-loaded terrain features. They can be avoided by sticking to sheltered or wind-scoured areas..

Wind Slab avalanche. Winds blew from left to right. The area above the ridge has been scoured, and the snow drifted into a wind slab on the slope below.

Wind slabs can take up to a week to stabilize. They are confined to lee and cross-loaded terrain features and can be avoided by sticking to sheltered or wind scoured areas.