Loose Wet
N
NE
E
SE
S
SW
W
NW
- Alpine
- Treeline
- Below treeline
- Likelihood
- Very Likely
- Size
- 3
This morning, as we've seen for the last week, all mountain weather stations are reporting temperatures that are well above freezing, and the snow surface will again quickly soften in today's heat. Loose wet avalanches involving saturated snow are likely in very steep, rocky terrain. Dangerous and devious wet slab avalanches are possible, as meltwater percolates through the snowpack, actively weakening the snow above buried weak layers, pooling on crusts, and increasing the potential for large, natural avalanches. And, as slab layers soften in the heat, people are likely to trigger dangerous avalanches.
- Pay attention to terrain traps below you, such as gullies or cliffs, where even a small avalanche can have severe consequences.
- If you're sinking into the snow above your ankles, or you're seeing active roller balls, move to shadier or lower-angle terrain.
- Avoid being on or under steep slopes with saturated surface snow and poor snow structure.
- An example of what we are talking about when we mention wet slab avalanches.
- Although wet avalanches are hard to predict, the video below shows potential for wet slab avalanches to propagate across a slope.