Dangerous avalanche conditions exist on mid and upper elevation slopes facing West through North through Eaast where storm snow, and wind-blown snow has overloaded weak, faceted snow in the bottom of the snowpack. As we continue to add more snow, and more wind going into this weekend these avalanches will only become larger, more destructive, and more deadly. Avalanches may break down 1-3' deep, possibly deeper, and propagate hundreds of feet wide. Either way, these avalanches are likely to be unsurvivable.

Over the last 24 hours, the Southwesterly winds began to pick up. With new snow on the horizon and lingering soft snow in protected areas, even a small bump in winds will begin drifting snow. Sustained high winds can deposit snow around terrain features on almost any aspect, called cross-loading. For this reason, I would expect to find slabs of wind drifted snow forming at all upper and mid-elevation slopes, especially along with terrain features such as ridgelines, sub ridges, and gullies. These wind drifts will be particularly touchy at upper elevation aspects facing west through north through east due to the direction of the wind, and where the wind drifted snow will be sitting on top of the weak faceted snow. Any wind drifted snow or new snow avalanche triggered can step down into deeper weaker layers creating a much larger avalanche.

Strong to moderate winds today will form both soft and hard slab avalanches in mid and upper elevation wind drifted terrain. As the winds continue to blow, these slabs will become more firm and cohesive. This can allow you to travel out farther onto the slope before it breaks, and can fail larger and wider than expected. Approach each new drift with caution, cracking and collapsing may not be evident today.