Blowing and drifting snow will create sensitive new wind slabs in upper elevation wind exposed terrain. These fresh drifts will cover slabs that formed yesterday, and wind loaded slopes today will be primed and ready. Avoid slopes steeper than 35 degrees that have a smooth rounded appearance and look for signs of growing instability such as cracking in the snow surface. A triggered wind slab today may also have the potential to step down into a buried weak layer causing a deeper and more dangerous persistent slab avalanche.

A few of the ridges are starting to develop large cornices and today's winds will create new, sensitive additions. Give cornices a wide berth when you are traveling on ridge crests where they are present and be aware of what's above you.

Thursday's storm added almost 3/4 of an inch of water weight to the snowpack and we are likley to see another half inch or more today. When we are dealing with buried weak layers, especially dormant ones, it's always a question of how much load can we add before they become active again. These are not huge water amounts, but I suspect that with the addtional load, some slopes might now be sensitive to the weight of a skier or rider. The most likely areas for triggering an avalanche up to 3' deep can be found in steep terrain right around treeline and above that faces NW-N-E. Shallow areas along slope margins, or near rock outcroppings create potential trigger spots, and avoidance of this type of terrain remains the safest course of action. The video below illustrates the current structure.

The snowpack is considerably weaker in areas of steep, wooded, or rocky terrain, or on slopes that have a more easterly component to them, and persistent slab avalanches are more likely in these areas.

If we get more than 6" of snow we may start to see soft, cohesive storm slab avalanches on all aspects. If you notice cracking in the snow surface or soft slabs breaking up it is time to dial back your slope angle. Loose, dry snow sluffs will also start to run off of very steep slopes. As snow piles up, stay out from under avalanche paths.