Like surface ice, a snowcover immobilizes beach and dune surfaces by preventing the wind from reaching the sand grains.

The protection of snow is often short-lived as winds can remove the snow before eroding exposed beach and dune areas.

Snow deposition occurs in the same areas as sand deposition--as snow drifts, within vegetation and on the leeward slopes of sand dunes. Deposits are often thicker than sand deposits because of the greater amount of wind-blown snow.

The patterns of snowcover and surface ice limit winter wind erosion to specific dune areas. The beach and windward slopes of dunes are swept clean of snow in the shortest amounts of time and these areas are prone to erosion.