Persistent Weak Layer

Weak, faceted snow and a buried crust are the common theme on the shady, northerly facing slopes at mid and upper elevations. To simplify, I'm dividing the facets into 2 main layers - facets above the October rain crust and facets below it. (There are lots of variations on this theme - including slopes with a second, weak crust higher in the snowpack or places where all the crusts are weakening and disappearing). With the first snow or just a smaller storm, I'd expect sluffing and soft slabs failing right at the new snow/old snow interface or above the crust. Slides will be able to run on the slick crust, entraining snow as they move down slope, creating larger slides. The facets below the crust are much larger and weaker, but it's going to take a bigger storm and more snow weight to break through the crust. Collapsing and whoomphing will become an important clues. Slides failing below the crust will be basically going to the ground. In both cases, the presence of a crust instead of just facets will allow slides to be wider and connect across more terrain.