Wind Slabs
- Alpin
- Limite forestière
- Sous la limite forestière
- Probabilité
- Possible
- Taille
- 1–2
Today I toured at treeline elevations and I was a bit surprised at how minimal the Wind Slab problem was. Winds have been a bit lighter and more variable than we are used to.
There remains a lot of soft snow available for the wind to blow around. Winds from the South will be getting stronger by midday on Monday. These newer wind slabs will exist along side any wind slabs remaining from our last storm (likely at higher elevations or in particularly windy spots).
Make good observations of both recent and previous windloading. Look for variable snow textures and blowing snow as clues to the most recent wind transport, while cornice growth and the depth of new snow might be better indicators of previous wind loading. As always, recent avalanches and cracking in the surface snow are going to be your most pertinent signs of unstable wind-loaded snow.