Clear skies and radiational cooling resulted in a light freeze overnight, causing the wet snow avalanche hazard to decrease to Low. Overnight temperatures in the mountains have remained close to or above freezing and the hazard will quickly increase to Moderate this morning. As surface crusts break down and lose cohesion, it will be possible for skiers and riders to trigger small to large wet slides on steep avalanche terrain. Natural-triggered wet slides and cornice failures are also possible. Although these slides may start small, wet snow avalanches could gouge down into loose wet snow and entrain dense destructive debris. Wet snow can quickly change from stable to unstable and while this is occurring, steep avalanche terrain should be avoided. A reminder from Grand Teton National Park that the winter wildlife closures to protect and provide critical habitat from native bighorn sheep continues through April 30. For more information on these closures please refer to their website.https://www.nps.gov/grte/learn/management/wildlife-closures.htm
As temperatures warm into the 40s and 50s and intense solar radiation affects slopes, the snow’s surface will lose cohesion and wet loose avalanches will occur on a variety of aspects. At the lower elevations, where previous melt-freeze cycles and inverted temperatures have formed stout crusts the hazard is expected to be Low, although isolated wet slides could still occur.
The high-pressure ridge will remain in place through the weekend. Temperatures will be well above normal. Daytime highs will in the 40’s and 50’s in the mountains. Southwest winds will be light with some higher gusts.Clear skies will allow snow surfaces to harden before sunrise. Sunshine and the warmest temperatures to date will increase the wet snow avalanche hazard after those snow surfaces become soft and lose strength. The general avalanche hazard will be low in the morning and increase to moderate with the warming conditions. Wet loose avalanches are possible on steep slopes. In some areas wet slab avalanches could become a possibility. Monitor conditions for increasing hazard and avoid avalanche prone slopes during the warmest portion of the day.
