Kinda normal, but I would clear the snow off around it. Be careful if you brush the fins. You don't want to bend or damage them.

You do not provide the weather conditions and the time period they occurred. Even with the best defrost feature, sometimes this can be totally overwhelmed. When weather moderates and if you still see icing on outside condenser, then call for s aservice and have this checked out.

TD

Thanks tigerdunes. It's been an unusually snowy week and a half, with night time temps in the 20s and teens and days mostly around freezing--some slightly below, some slightly above. Currently (11 am) the outside thermometer reads about 35 but the side of the unit is still very icy, as before. I was hoping it was loose and I could pull it (carefully) off with my fingers, but no dice.

You don't tell us about your system...brand, model, age, size....if you have a model with time/temp cheap defrost feature, then that could be problematic...

TD

It looks like one of those invertor not-so-mini split systems like Mitsubishi or Fujitsu.

I'll say again that you need to get the snow out from around it.

The Seattle area has been having unusually cold and more snow than it has seen in 70 years. And it's always damp in the winter.