West Slopes Central

Avalanche danger is generally low. There's still the odd chance the sun could cook a steep slope resulting in a small wet slide, or a tiny wind-drifted pocket of snow at upper elevations might fail with a human trigger. Otherwise, your main concern is variable snow conditions, with hard, irregular surfaces at lower elevations and variable crusts that may soften on the southern half of the compass. 

A storm brought about 6 inches of snow to the zone Tuesday night. Intense sunlight the day after resulted in rollerballs and wet loose avalanches on the southern half. More cloud cover Thursday meant there was probably less wet activity. By Friday, if the sun shines intensely on a steep slope, there still could be a small wet avalanche, but first, it'll have to soften crusts that developed from the previous days.

If you notice snow getting moist and rollerballs or small wet slides running on steep nearby slopes, steer onto shadier aspects or stick to lower-angle terrain away from where those avalanches are running. Wet snow could slide easily on the crust beneath the new snow layer. 

Wind during and after the last storm caused plenty of drifted features, yet observers reported mainly unreactive conditions in all the neighboring zones. As you approach higher elevations, where there's been more recent wind transport, you might be able to find a drifted pocket that you could trigger a small avalanche on. 

Any avalanches will probably be small. Your largest concern with triggering and getting caught in an avalanche is terrain traps: Stop and reevaluate the snow before entering a steep slope where you're over an abrupt bench or gully, above a cliff band, or a patch of trees or rocks.

Lower elevations have bumpy, irregular crusts, and on slopes on all but a slice of north you will find varying thicknesses of crusts that may or may not soften with the sun. Your largest concern for the day might be hard debris chunks covered by very little snow.  Sheltered north-facing slopes still have soft dry snow, although the wind has affected surfaces in exposed areas. 

After an atmospheric river near the end of February finished with 1-2ft of dry snow, a warm period followed, with snow on all aspects getting wet. The surface froze before our recent storm. After a few springlike days with fickle clouds and warm but varying wind and temperatures, we're in for the next burst of moisture for the weekend and beyond. 

If you make it into the backcountry please share with us what you find by submitting an observation HERE or on the Avy app.