Tetons

Fifteen to twenty inches of light snow has fallen during the past week. This snowfall was accompanied by light to moderate southwest to west winds and fell upon previously hard snow surfaces and surface hoar. Soft slabs and loose snow sloughs could be triggered today in steep terrain at the high elevations and to a lesser extent at the mid elevations. Avalanches at the low elevations are unlikely today.

A Pacific storm with an impressive moisture plume will impact the region. The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for our region. Snowfall may be heavy at times, especially during the period from Sunday morning through the evening. Snowfall accumulations of one to two feet are possible in the mountains by evening. In the valleys the snow may mix with rain during the day and is anticipated to change over to all snow Sunday night. West-southwest winds at 25 to 30 with gusts to 45 miles per hour will create areas of blowing snow and white out conditions. Temperatures will warm into the upper 20s and 30s in the mountains and well into the 30s in the valleys.These storm conditions will rapidly increase the general avalanche hazard and are likely to create dangerous avalanche conditions. Natural avalanche activity is likely and may become widespread. Large events could run full track into avalanche run out zones at the lower elevations. The general avalanche hazard is expected to rise to HIGH at the upper elevations, at least to CONSIDERABLE at the mid elevations and to MODERATE at the lower elevations. Travel in avalanche terrain is not recommended at the upper elevations. Expert terrain evaluation and route selection skills are essential to avoid avalanche hazards at the mid and lower elevations.