Tetons

At the mid and upper elevations, soft surface slabs up to 18 inches in depth could be triggered by backcountry travelers on steep, recently wind-loaded slopes. Deeper hard slabs persist, failing on November weaknesses. Yesterday, reduction efforts at Grand Targhee produced a four to six foot hard slab on a northerly aspect in a previously unskied area. A group of skiers also intentionally triggered a two to three foot slide in the Rock Springs drainage on a northeast aspect at 9,000 feet, which propagated over a wide area. Similar slides remain possible today. Avalanches are unlikely at the lower elevations.

The strong Pacific weather system that brought snowfall to the area on Sunday is expected to impact the region Sunday night through Monday. Up to 9 inches of new snow could fall overnight, followed by an additional 5 to 10 inches on Monday. Mountain temperatures are expected to warm into the upper teens as southwesterly winds range from 10 to 20 miles per hour.Above 7,500 feet, the general avalanche hazard is expected to be CONSIDERABLE Monday morning and could rise to HIGH later in the day if forecasted snowfall materializes. Warming temperatures, combined with light to moderate winds, will created easily triggered soft slabs and loose snow sluffs to two feet. Much higher consequences will result from failure of deeper instabilities. These dangerous hard slabs, three to six feet in depth, could be triggered by backcountry travelers, step down from smaller slides, or release spontaneously under the load of the new snow. Below 7,500 feet, the general avalanche hazard is expected to be MODERATE where the primary concern is newly developed soft slabs and loose snow sluffs 6 to 12 inches in depth.