One person said it best yesterday while near Ben Lomond Peak, instead of the snowpack containing a persistent weak layer (PWL), it is more like a persistent weak snowpack (PWS). What he meant is that in most places on shady slopes, the entire snowpack is weak and faceted.

To get an avalanche, there needs to be a slab of cohesive snow on top. Drew and Derek DeBruin were on Ben Lomond Peak as well and found similar conditions - weak snow is everywhere and what is most variable at upper elevations is the existence of a slab on top of this weak snow. Winds have scoured some slopes and loaded others. Wind-loaded locations generally have a slab of cohesive snow on top of weak snow. One of these produced a crack for Drew yesterday that propagated 45 feet from him, a sign of unstable snow (photo below).

The most likely place to trigger an avalanche today will be upper elevation slopes where a slab of wind drifted snow is resting on a persistent weak layer of faceted snow. This persistent weak layer generally exists on slopes that don't receive direct sunshine.