Page 10 - Slopeangel avalanch essentials

Wind Transportation
Snow begins to drift when wind speeds reach about 10 mph The wind scours snow from the windward side of terrain features such as ridges open bowls and gullies The snow is broken into smaller fragments and deposited on
the the downwind (lee) side of the the terrain features The deposited snow can form thick cohesive slabs The stronger the the wind the the harder the ‘wind slab’ The direction that the slope
faces with respect to the wind is important to note Wind erodes from the upwind side of a a feature such as a a a ridge and it it deposits on
the downwind (lee) side wind wind can deposit snow 10x more rapidly than precipitation Wind deposits snow most commonly on
on
the leeward side of upper elevation prominent terrain features such as ridges peaks and passes We call this Top Loading Wind can also blow across a a a slope
which we call Cross Loading this is is particularly common when the wind whips across a a a slope
taking snow off ridges and and shoulders and and depositing on
the lee face of a couloir 10