Patience is a virtue. The snowpack will need a bit of time to adjust to the new load from the storm. Be conservative in your terrain selection.
Weather Forecast
Today should be mostly cloudy with flurries and light to moderate SW winds. Temps have cooled and the alpine high today is -4'C. By Sat am we should have received 4cm of new snow. Saturday and Sunday will be similar; mostly cloudy with flurries, light to moderate SW winds and alpine temps around -7'C.
Snowpack Summary
The storm dumped up to ~50cm 48hrs. Temps hovered around 0 up to treeline, settling the new snow into a storm slab rapidly. Strong S'ly winds will have loaded lees further. The Jan 4weak layer, down 60-100cm was rapidly loaded and expected to be touchy in areas where it has not yet failed.
Avalanche Summary
A large natural avalanche cycle occurred yesterday. Most avalanches were size 2-3.5 occurring from all aspects and running to the end of run-outs. The largest avalanche was a size 4 from a steep north facing path off Mt Macdonald. Avalanche control yesterday also produced avalanches to size 3.5. Some avalanches triggered deep slabs below treeline.
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.
Persistent Slabs
Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.