Tetons

The General Avalanche Hazard is CONSIDERABLE at the Upper elevations and MODERATE at Mid elevations. Six to eight inches of heavy new snow came in with strong West-southwest winds over the past 24 hours. This snow, in addition to several inches from the past few days, sits on weak surfaces of faceted snow on Northerly aspects and smooth sun crusts on Southerly exposures. Slabs to two feet in depth could be easily triggered on a variety of aspects with lee slopes the most dangerous. Avoid open slopes above tree line today. At Low elevations the Hazard is LOW where the snow cover is thin and overnight freezing set-up the wet and rain soaked snow.

A moist, Northwest flow will bring light and variable winds with 9500 foot high temperatures in the teens. Skies will be mostly cloudy with occasional light snow.The General Avalanche Hazard in the TETON area is expected to remain CONSIDERABLE at Upper elevations, MODERATE at Mid and LOW at Lower elevations. On Northerly exposures the new snow sits on layers of faceted snow which resist bonding. Time for settling/stabilizing the new snow will be longer than usual. Slides are more likely in areas with good snow accumulations resting on weak faceted surfaces: generally steep, northerly aspects near ridgecrests, under cliff bands and terrain features that encourage building drifts. At Mid and Lower elevations less snow has fallen with little wind, preventing slab development.In the CONTINENTAL DIVIDE/TOGWOTEE PASS area, the General Avalanche Hazard is expected to remain MODERATE. The deep slab instability problem persists on steep avalanche prone slopes. The General Avalanche Hazard in the SOUTHWEST TRAILS/GREYS RIVER area is expected to remain MODERATE. Pockets of soft slab up to 18 inches could be triggered in wind loaded starting zones. The potential persists for snowmobilers to trigger full depth avalanches on steep slopes, failing on a base of weak, faceted snow.