Skiers and riders have the potential to trigger wind slabs formed earlier in the week at the high elevations. New snow will form additional shallow soft slabs at mid and upper elevations as the day progresses. At low elevations, rain will further loosen a snowpack that has been weakened by warm temperatures this week and the possibility of wet slides is to increase.
At the upper elevations pockets of dense wind slab with depths to 18 inches could be human triggered on steep slopes. Strong west winds and new snow today will form additional sensitive shallow slabs this afternoon on leeward slopes.
Rain will further weaken snow at the low elevations where areas of isothermal snow already exist. Wet slides could be human triggered or release naturally later in the day. Travel in low elevation steep avalanche terrain is not recommended this afternoon.
Snow and strong winds are to continue through the night although snowfall intensity is to decrease. On Friday lingering snow showers could bring minimal accumulations during the day. Temperatures are to rise into the mid to upper twenties. Winds during the day are to be westerly to southwesterly with 15-30 mph averages. The general avalanche hazard is expected to be Moderate at the mid and high elevations and Low at the low elevations. The hazard could elevate to Considerable above 9000 feet if significant snowfall occurs overnight. In all forecast areas, new wind slabs with depths to a foot at mid and upper elevation starting zones could be triggered. At low elevations isolated pockets of shallow surface slabs could triggered in steep terrain. In the Togwotee Pass area, deeper slabs could be triggered on old weaknesses to depths of three feet in terrain above 9000 feet.
