New snow falling week has been very low density which means it has been easily drifted by winds. Winds blew from the southwest this morning and yesterday afternoon, they blew from the east mid week, and other times they have blown from the west. Regardless of direction, the strongest winds have mostly occurred at higher elevations above treeline.

These soft slabs of wind drifted snow may still be triggered today about 1.5 ft deep and 100 ft wide. Avoiding avalanches today means just searching for soft snow untouched by the wind. Areas with wind drifted snow will look rounded, pillowy, and smooth and exist under cornices, under ridgelines, or along other terrain features. The one complication is that new snow overnight and today may camouflage these wind drifts.

One more complication is that these wind slabs are resting on a wide variety of old snow surfaces which will determine how long they will remain unstable. In many places they are sitting on a old, hard, textured snow surface and may be well bonded by this weekend. In other places, these wind slabs may be resting on weak faceted snow formed during the long period of dry weather and will remain unstable for some time. It can be hard to know the difference, and the best strategy is to avoid wind drifted snow and ride slopes untouched by winds.

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