Surface Hoar

[Snow Yeti]

Check out this surface hoar !!!



Hmmm !

[Xena]

Ummm....sorry for being stoopid, but what is a surface hoar?

[BlueHue]

oh crap no backcountry for you Yeti!!!

From what little I know it would be that little thin little layer below the top layer of what I assume is the fresh snow that has fallen in Revelstoke over the last day or two.

Result = very unstable snowpack meaning avalanches galore.

Of course don't quote me on it as I could be totally wrong [img]graemlins/cold.gif[/img]

[Swede]

Originally posted by Xena.:
Ummm....sorry for being stoopid, but what is a surface hoar?

Think it's a fancy word for frost?

[skijacski]

Hoar frost usually occurs when too much moisture is in the air, it is like a frost but with more defined crystals shaped similar to snowflakes.

Some are huge.





Can't find a photo of the one I like the best.

[Xena]

And waht is the significance of it? What does it do or cause?

[Xena]

Googled it - so it seems that the thin layer in Yeti's picture is a layer of surface hoar which grows on the surface of snow. it is a particularly thin, fragile and persistent weak layer in the snowpack, which accounts for a number of avalanche deaths each season. Surface hoar accounts for most avalanche accidents.

So, there you go - I learnt something new.

[Legolas]

yup, and if you'd read blue hues post, you'd have learnt it a lot sooner [img]graemlins/outtahere.gif[/img]

[Xena]

Smartypants!

[whatajoke]

From what i understand Its like a rug on slippery floorboards? There is minimal friction between the top layer of snow and the main snowpack. Which means it will easily slide.

Or is that a different to a surface hoar?