Sustained strong winds since yesterday have created stubborn slabs of wind-drifted snow on upper-elevation slopes and terrain features. These drifts could be 1'-3' deep and up to 150' wide. Watch for and avoid signs of wind-drifted snow; such as pillow-shaped deposits and rounded smooth areas of snow. Cracking in new wind-drifted snow is a sign that things are unstable and steeper slopes should be avoided. Cornices are signs of wind loading leeward features. Any cornice failure could trigger an avalanche on the slope below.

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As Greg found yesterday, some of these wind drifts may be reactive if they formed on top of graupel. The graupel layers vary, but they are often found below steeper cliff bands.

On east-southeast facing slopes at high and mid elevations there is a persistent weak layer (PWL) of facets just above a crust that was buried by new snow on or around February 14. Warm weather and clear skies over the last three days have decreased the likelihood of triggering an avalanche on this layer, and the facets will continue to heal. This problem is not on every slope and each slope facing east-southeast should be assessed individually before committing to terrain over 30° in steepness.

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We have been working on shrinking this problem as it appears to be primarily isolated to southeast through east-facing aspects. Read more from my observation in Upper American Fork HERE which includes a list of the most recent avalanches failing on this layer.

Elevated winds should keep the wet snow at bay today in upper elevations. Many locations have not seen a refreeze since Saturday morning and these lower and mid elevation slopes are places where you may see wet avalanche activity. Wet snow is the easiest avalanche problem to avoid. Look for and avoid signs that the snow surface is becoming wet; such as rollerballs and pinwheels. If you are sinking into the snow past your boot tops it is time to gain elevation and find dryer snow. Any wet loose avalanches may trigger larger slab avalanches.

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