Up to a foot of new snow with over an inch of moisture fell overnight. During the last four days up to 30 inches of new snow with over two inches of moisture has accumulated on light density snow and slick old snow surfaces. Weaknesses persist deep within the snowpack. The new snow and strong winds have created unstable conditions. The northeast aspect of Glory Bowl was triggered at 3:30 AM this morning by the Wyoming Department of Transportation and ran to just above the highway. Natural avalanche activity is possible today on a variety of aspects. Human triggered avalanches are likely and TRAVEL IN AVALANCHE TERRAIN IS NOT RECOMMENDED.
Dense wind slabs up to three feet in depth lie upon slick old snow surfaces and are likely to be human triggered and could release naturally. These slabs could step down into weak faceted snow layers buried deep within the older snowpack.
Surface slabs have the potential to step down to buried layers of faceted snow and come become full depth avalanches on a variety of aspects with depths of two to four feet possible.
Expect mostly clear skies on Christmas. A temperature inversion is expected to build overnight with lows in the mountains in the single digits and near zero in the valley. Daytime highs at all elevations will be in the low 20s. Northwesterly ridgetop winds will range from 10 to 20 miles per hour.The general avalanche hazard is expected to be CONSIDERABLE on Wednesday. Above 7,000 feet, backcountry travelers could trigger recently developed wind slabs up to 30 inches in depth on a variety of aspects. Faceted snow persists throughout the snowpack and failure could occur on these deeper layers as well with slab depths up to four feet. Cautious route finding and careful snowpack evaluation will be essential for safe travel in avalanche terrain tomorrow.
