Riders and skiers could trigger pockets wind slabs in cliff areas and very steep avalanche terrain at the mid and upper elevations elevations. Some potential may also persist for humans to trigger large, dangerous hard slabs. The likelihood of triggering either of these avalanche types will increase as sunlight and warming weaken the snowpack. Avalanches are unlikely at lower elevations.
Pockets of wind slab one to two feet in depth could be triggered by skiers or riders who venture into steep wind loaded avalanche starting zones and cliff areas. The sensitivity of these surface slabs to human triggers will increase as temperatures warm.
Some potential may remain to trigger dangerous hard slabs with depths to eight feet in isolated areas with poor snowpack structure. Predicting failure on these layers is extremely difficult and could occur after a slope has been tracked several times. Larger loads such as snowmobiles, groups of skiers or the release of a wind slab avalanche may be required to cause failure of these old weaknesses.
A fast moving storm system will past through the area overnight. Less than four inches of new snow is expected by morning. The exception may be the west slope of the Teton Range which could get up to six inches. Colder air on the backside of this system will move across the region by morning. Strong northwest winds will accompany the snowfall and persist after this system has moved east.Lingering mountain snow showers are likely in the morning. Skies will be partly sunny during the day. Temperatures will be in the teens and 20s in the mountains and in the 20s and 30s in the mountains. Winds will be northwest at 15 to 20 miles per hour with higher gusts and will be slowly decreasing during the day.Deep slab avalanches with depths of six to eight feet remain a concern in the Togwotee Pass/Continetal Divide and the Greys River/Southwest Trails areas. These dangerous slabs persist in areas where snowpack structure is poor. These slabs could be human triggered, especially by larger loads such as snowmobiles. Surface slabs up to two feet in depth that were formed during the most recent storm episodes could also be human triggered in steep wind loaded avalanche starting zones. The general avalanche hazard is expected to be CONSIDERABLE to MODERATE in areas where deeply buried weak layers of faceted snow persist and MODERATE to LOW in areas were deep slab avalanches are unlikely.
