I was able to collapse and crack out a small test slope Friday on a north facing piece of terrain at 9200'. It cracked out about 1' deep and 20' across. It wasn't particularly representative of most of our terrain and yet there it was: poor structure, additional wind loading, trigger. Collapse. The moderate to strong winds will add just a bit of extra stress to areas of poor structure. Our lingering persistent slab avalanche problem exists at elevations 8500' and above, on slopes facing northwest through east (with a particular emphasis on north through northeast.) Thinner snowpack areas are particularly suspect.

As an outlier, surface hoar formed on the 22nd and buried on the 25th has been noted in the mountains east of Hunstsville and Eden (and in the southern end of the Logan zone) and has yet to be reactive to human weight or snow tests. This is a layer of concern. Any collapsing or cracking in this layering is a red flag. It'll be important to watch this layer and see if additional wind loading may provide additional stress in localized terrain.

Little snow is available for transport due to the recent warm temps, but a few new wind slabs might form at the highest elevations, especially on northerly through easterly facing slopes. The drifts are likely sitting on dry snow and thin rime crusts and can be triggered by a person on steep slopes. Moderate to strong southwesterly winds are expected to continue throughout the day so keep an eye out for areas with consistent transport, especially near ridgelines. Avoid steep slopes with freshly wind drifted snow.