Tetons

A moist northwest flow brought six to 12 inches of new snow to the higher elevations overnight and favored the west slope of the Teton Range. Strong northwest winds accompanied this snowfall. Yesterday, a skier triggered a three foot deep soft slab avalanche on the east slope of the Northern Teton Range. This class III size slide was triggered at an elevation 8,400 feet on a southeast aspect, ran 1,000 feet and triggered slides on surrounding slopes. The loading that occurred overnight and that will continue today in combination with steadily rising temperatures will create dangerous unstable conditions. Skiers and riders who venture into steep terrain at the mid and upper elevations are likely to trigger dangerous soft slab avalanches up to four feet in depth. Natural releases are possible. At the lower elevations isolated pockets of new soft slab up to a foot deep may be human triggered in very steep wind loaded avalanche starting zones.

Some light snowfall will continue overnight with generally light accumulations expected. On Sunday the winter climate regime that we have experienced during the past 25 days will rapidly transition to a spring like regime. Skies will clear and the warming trend that began last night will continue. Skies will become clear and temperatures will rise into the 30s.This quick transition to a significantly warmer and dryer environment will cause unstable conditions as our winter snowpack struggles to adjust to these rapid changes. The general avalanche hazard is expected to be CONSIDERABLE during this period of significant transition and could increase to HIGH during the day as skies clear and temperatures warm. Large, natural avalanches from the highest peaks in the Teton Range are possible. In steep active avalanche paths, humans could trigger dangerous deep slab avalanches. Wet slides are possible in steep sunlit cliff areas. Excellent terrain evaluation skills and a conservative approach to terrain choices will be essential for safe travel in avalanche terrain.