Bollettino valanghe

Northern New Mexico

Taos Avalanche Center
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Pericolo valanghe

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In sintesi

On northerly slopes near and above treeline is where you're most likely to find weak layers buried 2 to 4 feet down with dense slabs on top.  Recent snow and wind will continue to stress these deeper layers that may be more reactive than what we've been seeing over the last several weeks.  Avoiding slopes over 35 degrees on northerly aspects will help you manage this persistent slab problem.  Recent snow and moderate winds have created wind slabs at upper elevations on the leeward sides of ridgelines and on cross-loaded terrain features that can run on top of crusts that formed prior to these storms.  Avoid steep slopes where you find a foot or more of wind drifted snow.  Wet slab concerns continue to linger on below treeline terrain where warmer temperatures haven't allowed the snowpack to refreeze.  Steep slopes where you find yourself punching in past your boot tops will be most suspect.

Problemi valanghivi

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alta quota
    • Limite del bosco
    • Sotto il limite del bosco
    Probabilità
    Possible
    Dimensione
    1–2

    Recent snow and moderate winds out of the NW that have shifted to SW have created wind slabs near and above treeline.  An additional 2 to 4 inches today along with winds will continue to drift snow into thickening slabs.   These slabs sit on top of crusts that formed from the warm weather earlier in the week.  We've seen lots of graupel with these storms that can pool beneath cliffs and on gentler terrain acting as a good weak layer for these slabs on top to fail on.  Avoid steep slopes where you find obvious wind drifted pillows or a stiffening of the snow surface.  A smaller wind slab avalanche has the potential to step down into deeper weak layers creating a larger more destructive avalanche. 

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alta quota
    • Limite del bosco
    • Sotto il limite del bosco
    Probabilità
    Possible
    Dimensione
    1–2

    Buried faceted weak layers that are 2 to 4 feet down that formed during January/February dry period continue to linger on northerly aspects near and above treeline.  Spring storms over the last three days have added 1.2" of SWE and more snow is expected today. These weak layers will need time to adjust this latest round of loading. Persistent slab avalanches can break widely across terrain features and may be large enough to injure or bury you.It may not be the first or second person on a slope    Avoid likely trigger points on the margins of the slab and near rock outcroppings as these are the more likely places for you to impact deeper weak layers. 

  • Wet Slabs

    • Alta quota
    • Limite del bosco
    • Sotto il limite del bosco
    Probabilità
    Possible
    Dimensione
    1–2

    Colder temperatures two nights ago helped ease the wet slab concerns that existed from the warm weather we had earlier in the week.  However, below treeline on west through north to east aspects is where you may encounter a snowpack that is still wet as daytime temperatures yesterday climbed into 40's and last night only dropped into the upper 20's under a thick moist cloud.  Temperatures today should climb into the low 40's and may see periods of rain at these lower elevations. Avoid steep slopes where you find yourself punching into snow over your boot tops.  These types of wet slab avalanches may start off small but have the potential to gouge into the snow creating a larger more destructive avalanche.    

    An example of a wet slab avalanche that ran during the beginning of April last year.  These types of avalanches can gouge down into the snowpack creating larger more destructive avalanches. 

Avalanche Discussion

Snowfall since Tuesday is about 8 - 10 inches of snow with 1.2" of SWE.  Today will bring more snow with 2 to 4 inches forecasted throughout the day with moderate west winds.  As we've seen with these previous storms expect to see graupel and the chance of a thunderstorm later this afternoon.  The snow surface prior to these storms mainly consisted of melt-freeze crusts and other firmer surfaces that will act as a good bed surface for potential wind slab avalanches.  Much of the recent snow has fallen as graupel, that when on the surface is not a concern, but once buried beneath a slab can act like ball bearings and a weak layer.  Digging a quick pit will help assess if you have this slab/weak layer combination that would be more reactive running on slick crusts below.  

 

 

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