Sunday's strong northerly winds created new wind slabs at the upper elevations. When skies cleared on Monday morning, several natural slides were observed in the southern Tetons. At the mid and upper elevations weak layers of well-developed faceted snow and buried surface hoar persist in the snowpack. Slab avalanches could be triggered today by skiers or riders who venture into steep avalanche-prone terrain. Avalanches are unlikely at the lower elevations.
At the upper elevations hard wind slabs were formed on leeward aspects by yesterday's strong northwest to north winds. These slabs could be human triggered on steep slopes where they are poorly bonded to slick or weak, old snow surfaces. They could be triggered to depths of 6 to18 inches and could step down to deeper layers of faceted snow.
Persistent layers of faceted snow lie in the snowpack. Slabs laying on these layers vary from one foot to as much as four feet in depth. These older hard slabs could be triggered after initiation of a new wind slab, by a single person hitting a weak spot, or by larger loads such as snow machines.
A weak system will bring clouds and periods of light snowfall overnight and into the day. Accumulations are expected to be around an inch in the mountains overnight and up to a couple of inches by Wednesday evening. Temperatures will be in the teens in the mountains and in the teens and 20s in the valleys. Winds will be westerly at 10 to 20 miles per hour.Some potential remains at the mid and upper elevations for humans to trigger shallow wind slabs and deeper persistent slabs on steep slopes. The general avalanche hazard is expected to be MODERATE at the mid and upper elevations and LOW below an elevation of 7,500 feet.
