Salt Lake

Problèmes avalancheux

• 

  Wind Slabs

  N

  NE

  E

  SE

  S

  SW

  W

  NW

  • Alpin
  • Limite forestière
  • Sous la limite forestière

  Probabilité

  Likely

  Taille

  2

  The westerly winds continue to blow across the upper elevations at speeds near 60 mph and now have a bit of new snow to move around. Shallow drifts of windblown snow will be the biggest concern for today. These shallow drifts will be most pronounced just off the ridgelines and on steep slopes that face easterly, but with elevated winds, cross-loading is possible on any aspect. As well look for these shallow drifts around terrain features like cliff bands, scoops, gully walls, and sub-ridges at mid-elevations.

  Look for obvious signs of wind-drifted snow, such as pillow-shaped slopes, cracking, and whumfing, and avoid those slopes.

• 

  Storm Slabs

  N

  NE

  E

  SE

  S

  SW

  W

  NW

  • Alpin
  • Limite forestière
  • Sous la limite forestière

  Probabilité

  Possible

  Taille

  1

  With such warm temperatures for the past week, I would guess most of the new snow should bond well to the older damp snow surfaces. However, fast running sluffs are likely to occur today if the snow surface was able to freeze into a firm crust before the cold new snow fell. While these far running sluffs don't entrain much snow they can be dangerous in areas they could knock you off your feet and sweep you through complex terrain, or into terrain features where the shallow snow could pile up deeply.

  It's best to use slope cutting techniques and terrain management skills to your advantage. Using small, steep test slopes (slopes not large enough to bury you) are a great way to test how the new snow is behaving before committing to slopes large enough to bury you.

  Watch for obvious signs of instability such as cracking and sluffing.

• 

  Loose Wet

  N

  NE

  E

  SE

  S

  SW

  W

  NW

  • Alpin
  • Limite forestière
  • Sous la limite forestière

  Probabilité

  Unlikely

  Taille

  2

  Clouds, cool temperatures, and snow showers should prevent much wet activity today, but if the sun peeks out for an extended period or you notice green housing (where clouds trap warmer temperatures), you can expect the snow to quickly become reactive. This includes both wet loose sluffs as well as larger wet slabs - which we haven't seen yet, but know the snowpack is now saturated. I would be especially aware of this problem on steep sunny aspects as well as all aspects at the lower and mid-elevations.

  Watch for rapid changes in the snow surface such as rollerballs, and have an exit plan that allows you to quickly respond to wet snow activity.

  HEADS UP - The avalanche danger could rise if any amount of rain occurs. The snow is already damp. Rain would make it lose cohesion and cause more wet avalanches to occur. Pay attention to changing weather patterns, and where that rain/snow line falls throughout the day.