The potential persist for riders or skiers to trigger deep hard slabs in areas where persistent weak layers remain deep within the snowpack. Shallow wind slabs could also be triggered by humans who venture onto steep wind loaded slopes and into cliff areas. The hazard will increase as sunlight and warming weaken the snowpack and make the triggering of these slab avalanches more likely. The chance for small wet slides to occur will also increase as the day warms.
Dangerous hard slabs up to six feet in depth could be triggered on steep slopes where layers of weak faceted snow persist deep within snowpack. These dangerous slabs could be triggered on slopes that have been crossed multiple times by other riders or skiers. Failure of these dangerous slabs is very hard to predict and caution is advised.
Surface slabs with depths of one to two feet could be triggered by backcountry travelers who venture into steep avalanche starting zones and cliff areas that have been loaded by recent winds. These slabs could be soft or hard and have the potential to step down and trigger dangerous persistent deep slabs in areas with poor snowpack structure. These slabs will increase in sensitivity as warming occurs today.
( Discussion is generated from the previous day's afternoon forecast. )Skies are forecast to be clear overnight and into the morning hours. Increasing clouds are expected later in the day ahead of a storm system that will track to our north. Temperatures will drop into the teens overnight and rise into the 30s and 40s during the day. Winds will be westerly at 10 miles per hour.Soft surface slabs up to two feet in depth could be human triggered on steep wind loaded aspects at the higher elevations in all of our forecast areas. Deep hard slab avalanches that could be human triggered with depths of five to eight feet continue to be a concern in the Togwotee Pass/Continental Divide area and to a lesser extend in the Southwest Trails/Greys River area and to an even lesser extent in the Teton Area. The general avalanche hazard is expected to be MODERATE in the Teton area and CONSIDERABLE in the Greys River and Togwotee Pass areas.
