Wind Slabs
- Alpin
- Limite forestière
- Sous la limite forestière
- Probabilité
- Possible
- Taille
- 2
We got 3-5 inches of new snow, and the westerly winds continued to blow throughout the day yesterday and into the early evening hours last night. Expect to see fresh slabs of wind drifted snow near ridgelines, on leeward aspects, open bowls, and in cross-loaded features like gullies.
Look for slopes with signs of wind drifted snow and avoid them. They'll be more prominent on aspects with a north or easterly component, but scattered across the compass especially at the mid-elevations.
Photo of a crack in a slope on Cutler Ridge, an obvious sign of wind drifted snow. See full ob HERE. (Photo: D. DeBruin)
In areas that don’t have wind drifted snow simply watch for the new snow avalanches. While I am unsure if this new snow will fracture as a slab I would expect the new snow to produce loose sluffs on steep terrain and it could produce soft slabs maybe 6 inches deep. Yesterday Mark found a stout crust on south aspects (photo below) and that could be a bed surface for new snow avalanches to run far and fast. Look for signs of instability throughout the day, and consider the consequences of steep terrain.