Wind Slabs
- Alpin
- Limite forestière
- Sous la limite forestière
- Probabilité
- Likely
- Taille
- 1–2
Although Sunday's hazard will depend on exactly how much snow falls from the sky, one thing that's for sure is that the winds will be blowing any new snow around the terrain. With moderate to strong southwest winds, the wind slab problem will primarily be found on the north through east side of the compass, though it's always a good idea to look for unusual loading patterns in our volcanic landscape. Additionally, wind slabs will be larger the higher you get in the terrain.
Our snowpack recently got rain to at least 8,000', and maybe higher. On Saturday morning, we had about an inch of new snow over the rain saturated snow. The south wind was moving the new snow around, and I found drifts ranging from 4 to 10 inches over the rain crust. With more incoming snow and sustained winds, I expect this wind loading pattern to continue into Sunday.
With a wind slab problem, look for smooth and pillowy or rippled texture on the snow surface. You can also use your pole or avalanche probe to measure the depth of the new snow over the recent rain crust. If you measure more than 12 inches, you should be thinking about dialing back your terrain choices.