Loose Wet
- Alpine
- Treeline
- Below treeline
- Likelihood
- Possible
- Size
- 1–2
The strong refreeze and today's afternoon cloud cover should prevent the older more established melt/freeze snow below the recent storm snow from getting too wet. However, sun and warmer temperatures today will still cause enough warming in the recent snow for sluffs of wet loose snow to become possible on steep slopes. In the places where only a few inches of recent snow exists, these wet loose avalanches should remain small. In places like the Mt. Rose area where more snow accumulated during the storm, the wet loose avalanches could be large enough to injure or even bury backcountry travelers. Wet loose avalanches would entrain all of the recent snow. Long steep slopes can produce larger wet loose avalanches. Terrain traps like gullies, creekbeds, cliffs, etc. can also cause problems since they can make small avalanches have bigger consequences. If the afternoon cloud cover actually produces precipitation, wet snow instabilities would be more widespread in areas that receive rain or new heavy wet snow.
Signs of wet snow instability include pinwheels, rollerballs, wet sticky snow, and sluffs of wet loose snow. As soon as any signs of wet snow instabilities exist, it is time to find an aspect where the snow remains cold or move to low angle slopes without steep slopes above.
(4/14/2021) Snowboarder triggered wet snow sluff on the E Face of Tamarack Peak involving the storm snow.