Human triggering is likely. This is not the time to be stepping out into big terrain.
Weather Forecast
Monday will bring trace amounts of snowfall with continued strong to extreme westerly winds. Alpine temperatures should reach a high of -6. Tuesday will stay windy and there is some potential for 10 to 15cm by end of day Wednesday.
Avalanche Summary
Avalanches up to size 2.5 were observed in Treeline and Alpine terrain over the last 48 hours. Natural avalanche activity is tapering off, but human triggering is still prime.
Snowpack Summary
Another 2cm of fresh snow overnight brings the recent storm snow up to 40cm at Treeline. Widespread wind slabs have developed and we have seen lots of cracking, reports of whumpfing, and skier controlled avalanches on the Dec 10th surface hoar and facet interface down 40-50cm. Recent natural avalanche have stepped down to the Oct crust with fracture depths over 1m.
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.