Winds blowing predominantly from the NW are drifting snow and forming sensitive soft slabs along upper elevation ridges. With no shortage of low-density snow to transport, expect avalanches to be 2 feet thick or more and propagate wider than you might expect.

If the wind shifts and begins blowing from the NE or E, expect slabs to form in unusual locations.

Intense snowfall of 1–2 inches per hour is creating sensitive conditions. Human-triggered avalanches are likely, and natural avalanches are possible. Expect both loose-dry and soft slabs that are easy to trigger and capable of running fast and far.

The DJL (Dry January Layer) of facets is buried 2–4 feet deep beneath a hard slab of settled snow and crusts. Avalanche activity on this layer has gone quiet since February 26th. Snowpack tests continue to show that the layer is difficult to initiate a failure; however, once a failure occurs, it still propagates across the column.

While it may be difficult to trigger this avalanche, the resulting slide would be very large and dangerous. Uncertainty regarding this problem is growing as additional snow and wind stress this weak layer. For now, I recommend avoiding steep, upper elevation, rocky slopes facing W-N-E, where this problem is most likely to be triggered.

Any large avalanche that fails in surface snow has the potential to stepdown to a persistent weak layer, resulting in a much larger avalanche.

UAC Forecaster. Trent Meisenheimer summarizes the current snowpack structure. This video is from Wednesday, March 4, before the storm.