Persistent Slabs
- Alta quota
- Limite del bosco
- Sotto il limite del bosco
- Probabilità
- Likely
- Dimensione
- 2
The November snow in upper elevation avalanche starting zones before the weekend storm is extremely weak and sugary due to its shallowness and sustained cold temperatures. Heavy snow and drifting from last weekend’s storm overloaded this weak faceted snow (now a persistent weak layer), and several large avalanches up to 3 feet deep and several hundred feet wide occurred at the very beginning of the week. We've noted increasing stability in recent days, and avalanches are generally unlikely on slopes bare of snow or that had very shallow snow cover before last weekend's storm.
Unfortunately, we observed a thin, newly developed layer of weak sugary snow on the snow surface in many areas Wednesday. It could easily be the next persistent weak layer after it was buried and preserved by yesterday's snow.
- Avalanches failing on a persistent weak layer could be triggered remotely, from a distance, or below.
- Cracking and collapsing (or whumpfs) are definite signs of instability.