It's pretty simple. We have very weak faceted snow (persistent weak layer) now buried roughly 10-16 inches deep, and this layer is actively producing avalanches (see recent activity). With more snow and an increase in the wind, this problem is only getting more dangerous.

Yesterday, these avalanches were 1-2 feet deep and up to 200 feet wide. As the snow begins to stack up, it will overload this weak layer again, and I expect the avalanches to gain significant volume. Meaning the avalanches will be getting deeper, wider, and more dangerous, perhaps now 1-3 feet deep and several hundred feet wide. Close calls will turn into accidents. I would strongly encourage sticking to slopes less than 30° in steepness and avoiding avalanche terrain altogether.

The westerly winds did pick up overnight and seemed to only be blowing across the uppermost elevations this morning. However, as the storm gets going, the forecast is for these westerly winds to increase throughout the day, and there is plenty of new snow to blow around.

As always, watch for and avoid the snow that looks pillowy and rounded. This problem will only be compounding if you have weak snow underneath the wind drifted snow, allowing for the avalanche to be that much deeper.

As the new snow begins to stack up, I would be on the lookout for long-running dry loose avalanches and instabilities within the new snow (storm slabs). Use test slopes and shovel tilt tests to see how the new snow behaves.