Wind Slabs
- Alpine
- Treeline
- Below treeline
- Likelihood
- Possible
- Size
- 1–2.5
Yesterday's field day confirmed that snow from Tuesday's storm seems to be bonding pretty well to the underlying surface, 48-hrs post storm. The few avalanches we investigated throughout the Pass appear to all have similar characteristics; 1-2' deep, and running mid-storm (Tuesday) with start zones just below ridgelines, indicating wind slabs. Be cautious of additional fresh wind slabs forming today just below leeward ridges. The Tuesday storm interface will be the likely bed surface, 1-3' down.
Cornice: Cornices continue to grow with the steady march of warm storms and may be sensitive to the weight of a person or machine. Anticipate cornices to break further back than expected and give corniced ridges a wide margin.
Wet loose: With temps climbing and an atmospheric river pointing up Cook Inlet, we may see rain on snow and wet loose avalanches in the mid-elevations late in the day. These are likely to take the shape of small point releases or rollerballs on very steep slopes. If they pick up enough mass or gouge deep enough, we could see these initiate a more dangerous slab avalanche.
Deep Persistent Slab: We haven't seen any evidence of this problem since the weak layer was buried over 2-weeks ago. We're feeling more confident that this problem is dormant but there are still large swaths of the core zone that are untested and untraveled. With generally a shallower snowpack on the southern end of Turnagain Pass, this is where a person would be more likely to find this avalanche problem.