It is recommended to avoid all avalanche terrain for the time being. This includes the below treeline runout zones of avalanche paths.
Weather Forecast
Winds will pick up tonight to the 40km/hr range. Tomorrow will be mainly cloudy with flurries. The winds will calm down to 25km/hr. High temp of -6 at treeline with a freezing level at valley bottom. Saturday we are expecting another 25-40 cm of snow with winds upward of 100km/hr!!
Avalanche Summary
Several new (past 12hour) storm snow avalanches were noted today. They were widespread at treeline and alpine and were up to sz3. Yesterday's action was also impressive with many large avalanches starting in the alpine and running full path. Every avalanche involved the deeper, basal layers.
Snowpack Summary
20-30cm of new snow in the last 48hrs. This snow came in quickly and came to rest on rain soaked snow at low elevations and a warm snowpack at higher elevations. This made for an immediate storm slab that was touchy and widespread. Today, that slab has settled and become less reactive. The other chapter to the story is the rapid loading from the new snow. The snowpack was forced to adjust quickly which created another avalanche cycle at treeline and above. The deeper trouble layers are not taking to this adjustment well. The natural cycle is tapering, but the snowpack is still extremely touchy. Winds are picking up today which is adding to the wind slabs and cornice development.
Problems
Wind Slabs
Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind 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.
Deep Persistent Slabs
Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.