Heavy snowfall and strong winds will have created a new slab. Dig down and assess the bond of the new snow to the old surface.
Weather Forecast
Today the snowfall will taper but it will remain mainly cloudy. Freezing level will stay at 800m and wind will be from the west at 20-35kph. Tuesday we can expect another 10cm of snow throughout the day & overnight period.
Snowpack Summary
30cm of new snow fell in the last 24hrs with mod gusting strong winds redistributing the snow in the Alpine. This brings the storm total to ~40cm on the Dec 15 layer, which is a layer of concern. It's widespread and LARGE surface hoar at treeline and can be found in the alpine in sheltered terrain. The new snow also buries crusts on S & W aspects.
Avalanche Summary
A recent report came in of a skier triggered sz 1 storm slab on the fan of Cheops North 5. It propagated 50m wide and was up to 30 cm deep. Expect to see more avalanches like this but larger as we get more snow or the new settles into a slab on the Dec 15th surface hoar. A natural cycle to sz 2 was observed from steep slide paths.
Confidence
Intensity of incoming weather systems is uncertain
Problems
Storm Slabs
Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.