Richmond/Cascade

After a small cycle of storm/wind slabs over the past 24 hours, slabs were still sensitive today on some terrain features.  Snowmobile and ski cuts produced shooting cracks up to 2' thick on leeward terrain features and triggered slabs about a foot thick on steep rollovers on more sheltered slopes.  We hunted for feedback on relatively small and inconsequential slopes while avoiding larger terrain or terrain traps.  Slab instabilities were quieter below treeline due to thinner, less developed slabs.  A thin layer of facets is buried below the storm snow on some slopes, while others don't have it - no clear pattern yet.  

I was trying to find a pattern of where storm slabs formed over facets, but it wasn't abundantly clear. In hand pits, I found concerning structures and produced occasional collapses on SW, E, and NE aspects NTL, and not N, SE, or S.  Areas that saw wind drifting before the main snowfall event were most concerning because they held a thin layer of stiff, drifted snow above the facets, creating a more abrupt hardness change.  I found the buried facets below treeline, but the slabs weren't well-developed and didn't provide any feedback.  Snow surfaces became moist on sunnier aspects at mid to low elevations from morning solar.