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Glossary

Wind Slab

Credit
Raven Eye Photography

The wind slab avalanche in this photo was caused by wind blowing snow over from the opposite side of the ridge and depositing it on the slope seen in the photo. Wind slabs are often found on lee slopes like this one near ridges.

A wind slab is one or more layers of stiff, wind deposited snow. Wind slabs usually consist of snow crystals broken into small particles by the wind and packed together. Snow accumulation from wind is variable across the landscape, so management of wind slab avalanche problems requires an awareness of this variability. Wind slab is one of eight avalanche problems identified in avalanche forecasts.