With over a foot of heavy new snow and two inches of water equivalent in the past 72 hrs, there is plenty of fresh snow for intensifying east and northeast winds to drift around at upper elevations. With several addition inches of accumulation possible and increasing east and northeast winds today, triggered wind slab avalanches in the 1 to 2+-foot-deep range could become likely in drifted upper elevation terrain, and some natural activity is possible by this afternoon. Watch for and avoid stiffer snow and fresh drifts on the lee of major ridges and in and around terrain features like sub-ridges, rock bands, and gullies. In very isolated places, the wind drifts could overload pockets of shallow weak snow, often near rocks, in upper elevation terrain, resulting in a deeper slide.

Freshly built-up and greatly enlarged cornices are also a concern, as they are likely to be hair-trigger sensitive today, might break further back than you expect, and could trigger wind slab or storm slab avalanches on slopes below.

With new snow over the weekend containing 2 inches of snow water equivalent, as reported by the Tony Grove Snotel, soft slabs and entraining point releases or sluffs consisting of heavy storm snow are likely in steep upper and mid-elevation terrain and possible even in areas that are generally sheltered. Any steep slope with a foot or more of freshly accumulated snow is suspect.

Gradual cooling and cloud cover over the weekend paused the meltdown and helped to solidify the soft and saturated snow.. Even though the danger is dropping with the temperatures, wet avalanches remain possible after an extended warm spell and some recent rain at mid elevations. Pockets of heightened wet avalanche conditions linger in steep terrain, and in some areas the fresh snow from over the weekend could be moist enough for entraining loose wet avalanches. With midday temperatures forecast in the upper thirties at upper elevations again, the danger will rise during the day, and an early departure from the mountains will be a good call. You should continue to avoid all steep terrain where you sink or punch down into saturated snow.