Widespread Touchy Wind Slab Avalanches on Andesite Peak

We went to Andesite Peak to make observations today in familiar terrain where we were comfortable traveling and remaining away from any avalanche terrain. The major winter storm impacting our area was moving slower than forecasted with about 2-4'' of dense snow at the trailhead this morning.  SW winds were gale force from the parking area with intense snow transport.  As soon as we made it up to the ridge in near treeline terrain, the avalanche instability was apparent.  We skinned by a steep avalanche gully at 7800' and triggered shooting cracks from the ridge line that propagated over and released an avalanche in the steeper gully terrain.   This avalanche was a D2 with a 1-1.5' deep crown line.  As we moved higher in the terrain, we found a small natural wind slab avalanche that just failed along with more shooting cracks and cornice collapses.  Near the upper ridge of Andesite, we again triggered a wide propagating wind slab avalanche from the ridge line.  This wind slab avalanche was around 400' wide and ran down slope 150' and it propagated from the ridge all the way up to the summit.  This avalanche was a D2 in size with a 2-2.5' crown line.  Most all steep avalanche terrain that we saw today avalanched with consistent touchy conditions.  Temperatures were hovering near the freezing mark in this area with dense heavy snow and reduced snow totals throughout the day.  As we drove down from the summit, is was raining up to 6400' in the early afternoon.