We can look forward to another round of snow overnight and into Monday. More snow with continued wind will keep Wind Slabs at the top of our list of avalanche problems. Evaluate wind loaded terrain at treeline and in the alpine carefully before comitting to slopes steeper than 30 degrees.
The wind was continuing to move snow throughout the day Sunday. Another round of snow in the forecast will mean that Wind Slabs will continue to build throughout the day tomorrow. While Wind Slabs were somewhat stubborn today, there is no guarantee that trend will continue into tomorrow. Find safe opportunities to investigate the Wind Slab problem before entering wind loaded avlanche terrain.
Cooling temperatures tomorrow should ensure that the new snow is "right-side-up" with lighter, weaker snow on the surface and the heavier storm snow beneath. It is always worth verifying this with simple tests like hand shears. While any Loose Dry avalanches are likely to be shallow, be cognizant of terrain traps, and features like gullies that might funnel otherwise harmless sluff.
The snow is really piling up! We haven't been seeing any notable weak layers in the new storm snow. We have been looking for the previously discussed 12/30 near surface facets, without finding them throughout the range (including at Tam Rim). I'm not quite ready to forget about this layer, but I'm close. If you decide to dig for it tomorrow, it'll be about a meter deep (A good landmark is the stout rain crust from 12/22. It was 20 cm above that) .
