"Wet slab avalanches involve liquid water in the snowpack interacting with a previously formed weak layer, and have the potential to create unusually large, destructive avalanches. Weak layers like layers of facets, buried surface hoar, and depth hoar, may create large avalanche problems throughout the winter, but usually heal overtime."
"Liquid water flowing through the snowpack, either from rain on snow events or from rapid melting, can find these weak layers and flow laterally, undercutting the snowpack. Even though weak layers may have gained strength, they can still be quite porous and far less dense compared with the rest of the snowpack, allowing liquid water to break up remaining bonds between crystals."
"Because liquid water can flow through the entire snowpack, far deeper than what humans on skis or snowmachines can affect, weak layers from early in the season can 'wake back up' for another round of avalanche activity, this time wit"
Colorado and the Western U.S. face an unprecedented heat wave with temperatures 20-30 degrees above normal, potentially reaching 50°F at ski area base elevations. Freezing levels could exceed 15,000 feet, with temperatures three to four standard deviations above historical averages. Following a winter of historically low snow accumulation with numerous weak layers in the snowpack, conditions are primed for rare wet slab avalanches. Weak layers including facets, buried surface hoar, and depth hoar typically strengthen over time but can be reactivated when liquid water from rapid melting or rain flows through the snowpack, undercutting bonds and destroying remaining strength in these porous, less-dense layers.
Read at SnowBrains
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