Small loose dry avalanches or sluffs are always problematic with new snow. Exercise caution around tree wells and early season hazards.
Weather Forecast
Today we'll see a mixed bag of weather, from sunny periods to convective flurries. Winds will be moderate from the SW, freezing level at Valley bottom and possibly a few centimeters of snow. Looks like more of the same for the next few days. Then on Sunday, we'll see a significant snowfall up to 30cm.
Snowpack Summary
60 cm of new snow fell over the last 6 days (20cm yesterday), leaving behind a storm slab in specific locations at tree line and widespread in the Alpine. The Halloween crust is now buried 40-60cm from the surface at tree line and below tree line, the height of snow diminishes quickly below 1700m.
Avalanche Summary
Yesterday in the highway corridor we observed one size 2 avalanche stopping in the runout zone(limited observations with poor visibility). Our field team ski cut a small size 1 on a North aspect at 2150m. This failed on some preserved new snow crystals just above the Halloween crust, roughly 40cm deep, 5m wide and ran 40m in length.
Confidence
Due to the number of field observations
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.