An intense storm is causing dangerous backcountry conditions (and terrible ski quality). Avoid all avalanche terrain and give the snowpack some time to adjust to the new load in the wake of the storm.
Weather Forecast
The forecast is warm, wet and windy; avalanche hazard will increase. Freezing levels today are around 2300m, with up to 15mm of rain, alpine temps of +3'C and S winds gusting to 85km/hr. Overnight, freezing levels should lower to 1300m and up to 10cm of snow are expected. Thurs and Fri will be cloudy with flurries, moderate SW winds, highs of +1.
Snowpack Summary
A ~25cm storm slab, which will be thicker in windloaded areas, will bond poorly where it overlies surface hoar or sun crust. Below 1600m it will bond poorly to a rain crust. Rain, occurring to at least 1900m is adding more load. The Nov persistent weak layers, down ~105 and ~140cm, still have the potential to create large avalanches.
Avalanche Summary
Natural avalanche activity started yesterday, with numerous size 2-2.5 avalanches occurring from all aspects and running onto avalanche fans. By the end of the day avalanche debris was becoming wet in character. Widespread avalanche activity is expected today due to rapid loading by rain and wind.
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.
Loose Wet
Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.